tot 


PROHIBITION  A  FAILURE: 

•  OR,  '    ',,,'  »'»,   >V> 


THE  TRUE  SOLUTION  OF  THE  TEMPERANCE 
QUESTION. 


BY 

DIG     LEWIS, 

AUTHOR  OF  "NEW  GYMNASTICS,"   "  WEAK  LUNGS,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


BOSTON: 
JAMES     R.    OSGOOD    AND    COMPANY. 

LATE   TICKNOR  &    FIELDS,  AND   FIELDS,  OSGOOD,   &   CO. 
I87S. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1875, 

BY  DIG  LEWIS, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


GIFT  OF 

Bankroll 
LIBRARY 


,  Stereotyped  at  the  Boston  Stereotype  Foundry, 
Xo.  19  Spring  Lane. 


DEDICATION. 


I  DEDICATE  this  volume  to  Prohibitionists,  with  the 
hope  that  they  may  give  it  a  thoughtful  and  patient 
reading.  Among  many  volumes,  I  have  published  noth- 
ing that  I  have  watched  with  half  the  interest  and 
anxiety  with  which  I  shall  follow  the  fortunes  of  this 
little  work.  Good  friends,  who  believe  in  legislative 
cures,  I  implore  you  to  read  and  think. 
Most  respectfully  yours, 

THE  AUTHOR. 


861340 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 

PAGE. 

THE  TRUE  SOLUTION  OF  THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION     .       .      9 


PART  II. 
VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES  :  A  VINDICATION  OF  MORAL  LIBERTY,  109 

PART   III. 
STORIES  OF  "  WASHINGTONIANISM,"  AND  "THE  CRUSADE"     .  153 


INTRODUCTION. 


GLANCING  over  this  work,  and  finding  that  the  writer 
is  opposed  to  Prohibition,  many  readers  will  conclude  he 
has  joined  the  rum  party.  To  secure  a  patient  hearing, 
I  take  the  liberty  to  express  my  convictions  upon  the 
subject  of  Temperance. 

Alcohol  is  a  poison,  and  should  not  be  taken  into  the 
stomach  in  any  form,  or  under  any  circumstances.  The 
candidate  for  a  boat  race  or  billiard  tournament  scrupu- 
lously abstains.  For  thirty  years  I  have  advised  total 
abstinence  for  both  sexes,  all  ages,  and  in  all  condi- 
tions of  health.  I  have  uniformly  advised  members  of 
churches  to  shun  the  Lord's  Supper,  until  unfermented 
wines  are  furnished. 

In  renting  a  hotel  property  in  Boston,  I  have  already 
sacrificed  not  less  than  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  keep 
out  rum,  and  will  not  lease  it  without  the  condition  that 
wines  and  brandies  shall  be  excluded  from  the  cooking. 
I  have  nothing  on  earth  I  would  not  cheerfully  give  to 
help  the  cause  of  temperance. 

I  believe  the  Prohibitory  Law  is  a  great  obstacle  in 
the  path  of  the  temperance  movement,  and  that  further 
progress  is  impossible  until  the  law  is  abolished.'  While 
we  are  waiting  for  the  constable  to  do  the  work,  we  can- 
not employ  with  the  needed  fervor  those  social,  moral, 

5 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

and  religions  forces  which  alone  can  triumph  over  human 
vices. 

When  the  great  temperance  movement  began,  nine 
families  in  ten  kept  a  rum  bottle  ready  for  visitors. 
"Within  twenty  years  eight  out  of  those  nine  families 
banished  the  rum  bottle.  While  this  grandest  of  moral 
revolutions  was  vigorously  progressing,  the  prohibitory 
law  was  enacted.  Prayer,  song,  and  brotherly  love  at 
once  gave  place  to  the  constable.  Since  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  law  the  cause  of  temperance  has  steadily  gone 
backward,  until  the  bottle  has  again  appeared  on  a  great 
many  sideboards. 

The  Crusade,  in  Ohio,  has  renewed,  to  some  extent, 
the  grand  passion  of  Washingtonianism ;  but,  if  the 
public  interest  is  thoroughly  aroused,  I  fear  the  con- 
stable will  be  pushed  forward  again,  and  the  divine 
weapons  laid  aside.  I  am  prepared  to  show  that  the 
Crusade  has,  in  a  few  months,  reduced  the  consumption 
of  drinks  in  Boston,  more  than  prohibition  right  here,  in 
Boston,  has  in  twenty  years. 

I  have  no  words  with  which  to  express  my  sorrow  that, 
in  making  this  issue  with  the  friends  of  prohibition,  I 
may  call  away  the  attention  of  some  from  the  woes  of  in- 
temperance ;  but,  with  my  convictions,  I  have  no  choice. 
I  believe  this  dependence  upon  law  to  be  an  incubus 
which  must  be  shaken  off. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  "  license  "  is  a  shame  and 
infamy,  which  ought  not  to  be  seriously  discussed  by  a 
Christian  people. 


FIRST 


THE  TRUE  SOLOTQSV      ?;i:.' 

OF  THE  ;'  '  0>^  >    I  i  >  V '  >  ;.j_ ;  *.(  • 

TEMPERANCE  QUESTION. 


I. 

in  a  Pullman  car,  on  a  Western  road,  some 
JRj  months  ago,  I  found  myself  in  a  company  of  gentle- 
men engaged  in  discussing  the  temperance  question. 

One  well-fed  and  well-dressed  gentleman  remarked,  — • 

"  It's  all  well  enough  for  women  to  go  snivelling  about 
the  streets ;  but,  I  tell  you,  you  can  never  break  up  this 
infernal  traffic  except  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  law." 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  what  kind  of  law  would  you  sug- 
.gest?" 

"  I  have  been  thinking  a  good  deal  about  that  lately," 
he  replied,  "  and  I'll  tell  you  what  seems  to  me  the  best 
law.  Make  a  law  that  no  man  shall  sell  a  glass  of  intoxi- 
cating drinks  for  less  than  five  dollars.  Don't  you  see 
that  these  poor  devils,  who  make  such  fools  of  them- 
selves, wouldn't  be  able  to  purchase  it  at  all?  That 
would  cure  nineteen  twentieths  of  the  evil." 

Another  gentleman,  with  a  red  face,  evidently  not  a 
rich  man,  said, — 

"  You  never  could  enforce  such  a  law  as  that ;  it  is 
impossible.  But  I'll  tell  you  the  sort  of  law  that  would 
fetch  'em.  Pass  a  law  that  nobody  shall  make  more  than 

9 


10  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

five  per  cent,  on  bis  stock.  For  example,  if  a  man  buy 
one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  whiskey,  he  shall  not  sell 
it  for  more  than  one  hundred  and  five  dollars.  Don't 
you  see  tha^  wonlfl  ruin  every  one  of  them?  " 

Another  gentleman,  tall,  spare,  and  severe,  said,  — 

"  Gen-iemea.  you  could  never  enforce  such  a  law  as 
that ;  you  could  not  enforce  either  of  those  laws ;  but 
I'll  tell  you  what  would  stop  this  thing.  Make  a  law  that 
the  man  who  sells  once  shall  pay  .a  fine  of  twenty-five 
dollars.  If  he  is  caught  doing  it  the  second  time,  he 
shall  pay  five  hundred  dollars.  If  he  is  caught  at  it 
again,  he  shall  go  to  prison  for  a  year.  And  if  he  is 
caught  the  fourth  time,  he  shall  be  hung.  I  tell  you, 
gentlemen,  when  you  get  'em  hung,  they  won't  sell  rum 
much  more.  You'd  find  that  would  end  the  business ; 
and,  gentlemen,  you  may  talk  about  it  as  much  as  you 
please,  that  is  the  only  way  this  thing  can  be  managed. 
Let  'em  know  that  the  law  is  as  sure  as  fate,  and  that  if 
they  are  caught  at  it  the  fourth  time,  they'll  be  strung  up. 
I  tell  you,  when  you  get  the  rum-sellers  all  hung  up  in  a 
row  by  the  neck,  you  wouldn't  have  much  more  rum  — 
not  much,  not  much,  gentlemen." 

A  stylish  young  man,  with  kid  gloves,  sitting  near, 
said,  — 

"  Gentlemen,  those  laws  are  too  severe ;  public  senti- 
ment would  never  enforce  them.  I  grant  you  that  law 
is  a  good  thing,  and  that  we  must  have  it  to  cure  this 
evil;  but  there  is  only  one  way  in  which  law  can  be 
made  to  work,  and  that  is,  to  make  a  law  against  all  per- 
pendicular drinking.  This  is  all  you  can  do." 

One  of  the  company  asked  what  he  meant  by  "  perpen- 
dicular drinking." 

"  Why,"  said  he,  "  I  thought  every  one  knew  what  that 
meant — it  is  standing  up  at  a  bar.  Make  a  law  that 
nobody  shall'  drink  standing,  and  you  will  do  all  that  is 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  \\ 

possible  to  do  by  law.  Yes,  gentlemen,  if  I  were  going 
to  frame  a  law,  I  should  make  the  title,  'An  Act  against 
Perpendicular  Drinking.'  " 

A  gruff  old  man,  who  had  been  listening  impatiently, 
with  many  signs  of  disapprobation,  said,  — 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  have  any  right  to  stick  my  nose 
into  this  discussion ;  but  it  seems  to  me  very  strange 
that  you  don't  all  see  that  the  only  way  to  cure  this  evil 
is  to  pass  a  law  against  importation  and  manufacturing. 
You  must  tear  this  thing  up  by  the  roots.  The  idea  of 
lopping  off  the  little  ends  of  the  branches,  and  then  fancy 
you  are  killing  the  tree  !  I  tell  you,  you  must  go  down 
to 'the  very  roots.  Let  Congress  pass  a  law  against  all 
importations,  and  then  another  one  against  manufacturing 
the  stuff,  and  don't  you  see  that,  instead  of  clipping  off 
the  ends  of  the  branches,  you  have  torn  the  whole  tree 
up  by  the  roots  ?  I  am  astonished  when  I  hear  people 
talk  about  letting  the  poison  come  into  ten  thousand 
places,  in  our  very  midst,  and  then  undertake  to  fight  the 
devil  at  arms'  length." 

Another  gentleman,  sitting  near,  a  member  of  the 
"  yaw  "  persuasion,  said,  — - 

"  Mein  Gott  in  himmel !  Vare  you  git  de  aulcahell  for 
a  tousand  deefferent  teengs,  und  de  leekoresfor  einhoon- 
dered  teengs  ?  Nein,  shentlemen,  das  ist  sehr  bad.  I 
tells  you,  shentlemen,  you  mek  ein  law  dat  de  leekores 
shall  pe  gone  avay,  and  den  mek  shoost  lager ;  das  is 
goot,  sehr  goot." 

A  quiet  young  lady,  sitting  near,  and  who  afterward 
told  me  that  she  was  on  her  way  to  St.  Louis  to  teach 
school,  had  been  listening  to  all  this  conversation  with 
evident  interest. 

Tired  —  not  to  say  disgusted  —  with  the  coarse  non- 
sense of  these  men,  I  turned  to  the  young  woman  with 
the  question, — 


12  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

11  What  kind  of  law  do  you  think  is  best  ?  " 

She  blushed,  and,  after  a  little  hesitation,  replied,  — 

"  Gentlemen,  if  you  will  excuse  the  remark,  I  believe 
that  the  law  of  love  is  the  best  law  for  the  cure  of  in- 
temperance." 

I  clapped  my  hands,  and  she  went  on. 

"  I  have  a  brother,  who,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  engaged  in 
keeping  a  saloon.  My  father,  who  is  a  clergyman,  talked 
to  Henry  pretty  hard.  He  told  him  that  he  would  dis- 
grace himself  and  his  friends,  and  become  a  drunkard, 
and  go  to  hell.  Henry  replied,  with  profane  words,  that 
he  would  go  to  hell  if  he  chose,  and  he  would  go  on  his 
own  hook.  My  father  contrived  to  get  a  lease  of  the 
building  in  which  brother  was  keeping  his  saloon,  and 
turned  him  out.  Henry  moved  into  another  street,  —  a 
much  worse  one,  —  and  opened  his  bad  business  again. 
My  father  sent  a  man  to  purchase  a  claim  that  a  whole- 
sale liquor  dealer  had  against  brother,  and  he  had  it  sued, 
and  then  they  seized  Henry's  things,  and  drove  him  out 
again.  Then  he  went  into  a  cellar,  and  kept  a  very  low 
place.  Tie  didn't  call  upon  us  at  all,  and  I  don't  know 
that  we  ever  should  have  seen  him  again ;  but  two  young 
ladies,  friends  of  mine,  proposed  to  me,  having  heard  of 
the  woman's  movement  in  Ohio,  that  we  three  should  go 
down  to  Henry's  place,  and  see  what  we  could  do.  So, 
one  afternoon  we  looked  him  up,  and  walked  in.  There 
were  half  a  dozen  rough  men  hanging  about ;  but  we 
went  directly  to  the  bar,  and  one  of  the  young  ladies 
said, — 

"  '  Won't  you  let  us  see  you  privately  ? ' 

"  Henry  said,  '  I  have  no  other  room,  young  ladies,  but 
perhaps  I  can  see  you  some  other  time.' 

"  Kate  said, l  Can't  }TOU  send  these  men  out,  and  let  us 
speak  with  you  a  few  moments  ?  ' 

"  Henry  turned  to  the  men,  and  said,  — 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  13 

"  '  Boys,  you  better  leave  a  little  while.  You  may  come 
back  in  half  an  hour/ 

"  Then  Henry  came  out  from  behind  his  bar,  and  we 
sat  down  upon  some  rickety  chairs,  and  began  to  talk. 
I  can't  tell  you  exactly  what  we  said;  but  we  talked, 
and  pleaded,  and  begged,  and,  I  am  ashamed  to  say,  we 
girls  all  cried.  I  had  no  idea  the  half  hour  was  up;  but 
the  men  came  back,  and  knocked  at  the  door. 

"  Brother  cried  out,  '  Come  again  in  an  hour ; '  and 
they  went  away  swearing. 

"  After  a  while,  we  got  to  talking  quite  tender  and  lov- 
ing; and  I  told  Henry,  if  he  would  give  up  this  dreadful 
business,  and  go  back  to  his  old  trade,  and  would  take 
two  or  three  rooms,  I  would  help  him  fit  them  up,  and 
would  come  every  day  to  keep  house  for  him,  and  would 
do  everything  in  my  power  to  make  him  happy.  Well, 
at  last  he  began  to  cry  himself;  and  then  I  put  my  arms 
about  him,  and  kissed  him,  and  said,  — 

" '  My  dear  brother,  this  is  a  dreadful  business ;  it  will 
ruin  you.  Come,  go  with  us.7 

"  He  sat  still  for  a  few  moments,  and  we  stopped  talk- 
ing because  we  saw  he  was  thinking;  but  I  sat  by  his 
side,  and  kept  my  hand  in  his.  He  got  up  and  walked 
backward  and  forward  across  the  room,  and,  at  length, 
turned  suddenly,  and  going  behind  the  bar,  opened  a 
wooden  faucet,  and  let  the  beer  in  a  keg  run  out  on  the 
floor.  Then  he  took  the  corks  out  of  six  or  eight  bottles, 
and  poured  the  contents  on  the  floor. 

" '  There  !  I  have  poured  out  all  the  miserable  stuff/ 
said  he ;  and,  turning  to  me,  and  taking  me  in  his- 
arms,  he  continued,  l  My  sister,  I  promise  you  solemnly, 
I  will  never  sell  any  more,  and  that  I  will  never  drink 
any  more,  as  long  as  I  live.'  He  remains  true.  ;  , 

"  Now,  gentlemen,"  continued  the  young  lady,  "  it  may 
be  that  a  constable  would  have  accomplished  the  same 


14  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

thing  better ;  but  in  a  town  in  Maine,  where  I  was  born, 
and  where  I  have  always  resided,  it  has  been  said  for 
some  years  that  the  law  had  broken  up  the  liquor  traffic, 
that  there  was  not  a  place  in  town  where  intoxicating 
drinks  could  be  purchased,  that  the  constables  had  traced 
the  last  two  bottles  to  a  heap  of  dirt  under  a  barn  ;  but 
the  marshal  reported  that  he  had  never  seen  so  much 
intemperance  in  our  town.  Evidently  drinking  people 
were  finding  access  to  it  in  great  quantities,  but  the 
question  was,  where?  That  was  what  puzzled  every- 
body. A  great  many  young  men,  of  a  class  that  every- 
body says  did  not  formerly  drink,  had  organized  a  drink- 
ing club,  where  they  drank  a  good  deal.  Gentlemen,  I 
have  learned  to  doubt  whether  law  is,  after  all,  so  very 
potent  in  the  cure  of  this  evil.  I  really  believe  that  the 
law  of  love,  such  as  we  applied  to  Henry,  is  more  potent 
than  the  law  of  force.  I  suppose  you  will  say  that  our 
management  of  my  brother  was  womanish  and  weak,  and 
that  it  would  have  been  better  to  use  the  strong  power 
of  the  government ;  but,  in  my  study  of  German,  I  came 
across  an  adage,  which  seems  to  me  to  contain  a  great 
deal- of  truth.  It  is  '•Die,  milde  Macht  ist  gross]  which 
means,  '  the  mild  power  is  great ; '  and  I  sometimes  think 
this  adage  contains  a  deep  truth."*' 

I  said  to  them,  "  Gentlemen,  if,  in  this  war  upon  rum- 
selling,  there  were  two  movements,  one  led  on  by  all  of 
you,  with  your  fists  doubled  up  and  your  pockets  full  of 
laws,  and  the  other  movement  was  led  by  this  young 
lady,  I  should  follow  her;  believing  that,  with  her  law 
of  love,  we  could  do  a  hundred  times  as  much  as  you, 
with  your  law  of  force.  Force  is  a  good  agency  in  break- 
ing rocks,  and  in  punishing  criminals  ;  but  in  curing 
vices,  in  which  we  strive  to  regulate  the  action  and  re- 
action of  the  faculties  and  passions  of  the  human  soul, 
force  is  about  as  well  adapted  to  our  purpose  as  a  sledge 
hammer  to  regulating  a  watch. 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  15 


II. 

SOME  people  seem  to  have  the  impression  that  society 
is  restrained  from  vice  by  civil  law ;  that  our  wives 
and  daughters  are  virtuous  because  there  is  a  law 
against  brothels;  that  our  exemplary  citizens  refrain 
from  gambling,  profanity,  and  drinking,  because  the  law 
forbids  these  vices ;  that  somehow  society  is  kept  in 
order  by  law. 

Of  course  I  need  not  argue,  with  those  who  have 
observed  and  thought,  that  vices  are  inevitably  strength- 
ened by  legal  prohibition,  and  virtues  weakened  by  legal 
protection. 

i  It  is  not  the  clumsy  fingers  of  the  law  which  restrain 
us  from  a  vicious  life,  but  reason  and  public  sentiment. 

The  great  Napoleon  said,  "  1  do  not  care  for  the  armies 
of  Europe,  but  I  tremble  before  its  public  sentiment." 

Even  a  church,  which,  like  the  Church  of  England,  or 
that  of  France  and  Italy,  is  taken  under  the  protection 
of  the  government,  loses  its  moral  vitality,  and  can  never 
regain  it  till  all  legislative  props  are  removed,  and  it 
learns  to  stand  on  its  own  legs.  Let  the  government  of 
the  United  States  take  the  Methodist  church  under  its 
special  protection,  and  in  twelve  months  its  grand  moral 
power  would  be  paralyzed. 

Inevitably  a  temperance  movement  is  emasculated, 
as  here  in  Massachusetts,  when  taken  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  government. 

There  is  not  a  church,  or  a  society,  or  a  virtue,  which 
will  not  lose  its  moral  vitality  if  taken  under  the  wing 
of  civil  law.  Nothing  but  the  sense  of  responsibility 
gives  balance  and  strength.  A  man  cannot  walk  a  tight 


16  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

rope,  a  hundred  feet  from  the  ground;  unless  he  first 
learns  to  depend  upon  himself;  nor  can  he  walk  on  the 
ground,  even,  without  having  first  learned  this  self- 
dependence.  You  can't  learn  to  swim  without  going 
into  the  water. 

It  is  the  sense  of  responsibility  which  develops  every 
noble  human  quality.  The  same  law  obtains  in  every 
sphere  and  department  of  life.  A  girl  whose  virtue  is 
guarded  in  a  French  convent  has  no  real  virtue  ;  and 
when  her  friends  watch  her,  and  refuse  to  leave  her 
alone  with  a  man,  even  for  a  moment,  they  tell  usj  more 
plainly  than  any  words  could,  how  she  has  been  ruined 
by  being  denied  her  liberty. 

And  no  matter  how  richly  endowed  a  young  man  ma/ 
be,  if  he  learns  that  his  fortune  is  secure,  that  his  fathei 
will  leave  him  wealth,  he  will  never  become  a  force  in 
the  world. 

Observe  that  man  walking  down  the  street.  He  passes 
a  liquor  store,  and  now  he  passes  a  street  which  leads  to 
brothels.  Why?  Is  it  the  fear  of  the  law  which  re- 
strains him  ?  When  you,  my  reader,  walk  through  a  city, 
and  pass  a  thousand  temptations,  are  you  restrained  by 
law  ?  Is  it  the  fear  of  the  constable,  or  is  it  your  con- 
viction that  vicious  indulgences  are  harmful,  with  the 
consciousness  that  society  is  observing  you  ? 

Let  us  go  to  a  prison.  .  We  find  a  convict  who  has 
resisted  the  most  determined  attempts  at  discipline.  He 
has  been  beaten,  and  showered,  and  tortured  in  many 
other  ways,  but  he  still  defies  them.  Suppose  we  could 
obtain  permission  to  take  him  out  with  us  a  few  days. 
We  take  off  his  prison  dress,  give  him  a  good  suit,  and 
then  conduct  him  to  a  social  gathering  of  refined  ladies 
and  gentlemen.  Now  watch  him  !  There  are  not  bars, 
and  chains,  and  whips  enough  in  this  world  to  make  him 
as  gentle  as  ho  now  is  in  conversation  with  that  lady. 


THE   TEMPERANCE   QUESTION.  17 

Is  not  the  influence  of  good  men  and  women  as  cheap 
and  as  available  as  torture  and  prisons  ? 

From  the  Massachusetts  prison  we  have  recently  heard 
of  punishments,  shootings,  and  dungeons ;  but  I  remem- 
ber to  have  visited  that  prison  some  years  ago,  when  the 
discipline  was  of  another  sort.  One  day  the  prisoners 
were  all  let  out  into  the  yard  for  conversation  and  games. 
Football,  loud  laughing  and  shouting,  made  the  wildest 
scene  I  ever  witnessed.  The  warden's  little  children 
were  caught  up  by  the  convicts,  passed  along  from  thief 
to  thief,  from  murderer  to  murderer,  kissed  and  fondly 
embraced  by  men  who  had  not  touched  a  child,  it  may 
be,  for  months  or  years.  When  we  saw  the  warden's 
beautiful  little  daughter  in  the  arms  of  men  whose  names 
the  world  speaks  with  a  shudder,  and  some  one  cried  out 
to  the  mother,  "  0,  madam,  how  can  you  ?  How  dare 
you?"  the  mother  replied,  "  Daisy  could  not  be  safer 
anywhere  in  the  world.  They  will  bring  her  back  in 
an  hour,  with  five  hundred  loving  kisses  on  her  lips." 

Last  evening,  in  taking  a  walk,  I  passed  a  large  num- 
ber of  children  just  dismissed  from  school ;  and  I  did  not 
kill  a  single  one  of  them,  not  even  the  least  in  size,  —  and 
I  saw  one  little  girl  so  small  and  delicate,  I  am  confident  I 
could  have  killed  her  very  easily,  —  but  I  passed  right  by. 
I  had  my  reasons  for  letting  them  off  so  easily,  but  I  do 
not  care  to  mention  them.  I  will,  however,  say  this 
much  —  it  was  not  the  fear  of  the  law. 

I  remember  sitting  up  once  all  night  with  a  little  child ; 
it  was  its  last  night ;  and  the  poor  little  thing  was  gasp- 
ing for  breath.  It  could  not  raise  its  hand,  it  was  so 
weak.  Now  I  could  have  killed  that  child  so  easy,  and 
it  was  so  far  gone  that  it  could  not  have  hurt  a  fly,  and 
I  was  in  robust  health  at  the  time.  It  would  have  been 
perfectly  safe,  but  I  didn't  kill  it.  My  reason  for  letting 
it  escape,  was  in  no  degree  the  fear  of  the  law. 


18  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

In  our  cities  there  are  women  who  devote  themselves 
to  the  care  of  the  sick  among  the  abandoned,  about  the 
Five  Points  and  other  similar  places.  They  go  alone 
right  into  a  den  of  thieves,  or  into  a  cellar  or  attic  occu- 
pied by  men  who  rob  and  kill,  and  these  ladies  do  not 
leave  their  watches  and  purses  at  home.  But  no  one 
ever  hears  of  their  being  robbed  or  hurt,  and  they  go  at 
all  hours  of  the  night. 

It  certainly  is  not  the  fear  of  the  law  which  restrains 
these  hardened  creatures.  I  think  I  know  what  it  is 
that  protects  these  women,  and  renders  them  a  little 
safer  than  they  would  be  in  their  own  houses ;  but,  my 
reader,  I  shall  not  tell  you.  You  may  have  three  chances 
to  guess. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  there  was  established  at 
Lexington,  Mass.,  some  years  ago,  a  school  for  young 
ladies,  which  rapidly  grew  in  popularity  and  patronage, 
until  the  great  buildings  were  unfortunately  destroyed 
by  fire.  The  secret  of  the  popularity  of  that  school,  and 
the  secret  of  the  most  remarkable  intellectual  progress 
I  have  ever  known,  was  the  absence  of  what  is  called 
government.  Every  pupil  was  expected  to  do  her 
best,  and  she  did  it.  Neither  absence  from  prayers 
or  recitations,  nor  the  character  of  the  recitations,  was 
made  a  matter  of  record.  Everything  was  trusted  to 
honor,  and  during  the  years  of  the  history  of  that  school 
there  was  scarcely  an  occasion  for  fault-finding.  It  was 
a  marvellous  success,  and  is  referred  to  by  the  pupils  as 
the  beginning  of  a  new  life,  as  the  place  where  they 
began  to  cultivate  a  true  womanhood.  : 

The  worst  class  of  our  citizens  are  more  worthy  of 
trust  than  some  managers  of  ladies'  seminaries  believe 
their  pupils  to  be.  The  general  policy  is  to  have  an 
almost  endless  series  of  rules,  and  then  police  the  school, 
ai  d  watch  for  violations.  I  had  rather  my  own  daughter 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  19 

would  never  learn  to  read  the  name  of  the  God  who  made 
her,  than  to  be  subjected  to  the  demoralizing  influence 
of  such  a  system. 

The  young  ladies  in  the  Lexington  school  were  re- 
quested to  retire  at  nine  o'clock,  and  the  reasons  for  it 
were  given  so  fully,  that  it  was  very  rare  that  any  one 
violated  the  request.  The  fire  watchman  began  his 
rounds  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  knowing  that 
it  was  the  general  custom  to  retire  at  nine  o'clock,  and 
observing  a  light  one  night,  a  few  minutes  after  nine,  in 
one  of  the  rooms,  he  went  to  the  principal,  to  report  the 
fact.  He  was  sent  to  ask  if  any  one  was  sick.  Return- 
ing to  give  the  answer,  he  was  immediately  followed  by 
the  young  lady,  who  had  been  sitting  up  beyond  the 
prescribed  hour,  and  who  came  to  the  principal  to  say,  — 

"  I  hope  you  will  excuse  me,  but  I  received  a  letter 
from  my  mother  to-day,  and  knowing  she  would  expect 
an  immediate  answer,  and  that  I  should  be  very  busy 
to-morrow,  I  was  just  finishing  my  letter." 

The  principal  said,  "  All  right,  Mary  ;  "  and  she  turned 
to  go  back ;  but  stopping,  she  remarked,  with  some  emo- 
tion, — 

"  I  am  sure  if  you  knew  how  much  better  I  do  here 
than  I  have  ever  done  at  school  before,  you  would  not 
blame  me.  The  year  before  I  came  here,  I  was  at  the 
young  ladies'  seminary  in  P.  I  can't  tell  you  how  many 
rules  we  had  in  that  school,  but  there  was  a  great  num- 
ber. They  were  written,  and  stuck  up  in  the  halls. 
There  were  all  sorts  of  rules  about  everything.  I  re- 
member there  was  a  rule  that  when  two  pupils  met  in 
any  passage  hall,  they  must  not  speak  to  each  other. 
There  was  another,  that  pupils  must  never  call  upon  each 
other  in  their  rooms ;  and  another,  that  we  must  be  in 
bed  at  ten  o'clock,  and  that  pupils  sleeping  together 
must  not  speak  to  each  other  after  that  hour.  There  was 
2 


20  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

another,  that  we  must  not  correspond  with  any  one,  ex- 
cept  through  the  principal. 

"  Every  girl  of  spirit  had  one  or  more  correspondents 
outside,  and  generally  with  some  young  man  in  the  town. 
The  letters  were  exchanged  through  the  stone  wall  that 
surrounded  the  garden.  Every  pupil  had  her  particular 
spot,  where  she  put  her  letters  addressed  to  the  young 
man,  and  received  his  replies.  The  girl  who  hadn't  one 
or  two  stone  wall  correspondents  was  regarded  as  slow. 
It  was  required  of  us  to  report  every  day  all  violations 
of  the  rules.  So,  after  we  retired  at  night,  if  we  wanted 
to  converse  with  our  bed-fellows,  one  of  us  would  address 
an  imaginary  person,  —  for  example,  Bridget,  —  and  ask 
her  to  say  to  her  mate,  by  whose  side  she  was  lying,  so  and 
so.  Then  her  companion  would  request  Bridget  to  reply 
so  and  so;  and  thus  conversation  was  carried  on  indefi- 
nitely ;  and  when,  the  next  day,  we  were  asked  to  report 
violations  of  the  rules,  we  did  not  report  this,  because  we 
had  not  spoken  to  each  other,  but  only  to  Bridget.  A 
score  of  devic.es,  some  of  them  very  ingenious,  were  con- 
trived for  dodging  the  rule  about  speaking  to  each 
other  when  passing  in  the  hall,  and  again  about  visiting 
each  other  in  our  rooms.  The  greatest  intellectual 
activity  in  the  school  was  in  carrying  forward  a  series 
of  equivocations,  and  dodges,  and  concealments.  Why, 
sir,  I  would  no  more  send  a  sister  to  that  school,  than  I 
would  send  her  to  any  other  place  where  she  was  sure 
to  learn  all  sorts  of  dishonesty. 

"  I  have  been  in  your  school  two  years,  and  I  have 
never  heard  one  of  the  girls  suggest  a  violation  of  any 
of  your  wishes,  or  the  wishes  of  the  teachers.  Here  we 
know  we  are  not  watched.  Everything  is  trusted  to  our 
honor,  and  I  think,  sir,  when  you  trust  us,  a  jgirl  must  be 
dreadfully  mean  not  to  do  right ;  but  if  you  watch  us, 
then  it  is  a  fair  game.  I  do  believe,  sir,  if  one  of  the 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  21 

+ 

girls  in  this  school  was  to  propose  anything  that  would 
be  a  violation  of  jour  wishes;  the  rest  of  us  would  make 
the  place  too  hot  for  her  to  stay  here.'' 

And  away  she  went  to  her  room. 

The  young  ladies  in  the  school  at  Lexington  were 
requested  not  to  receive  any  company  except  with  the 
distinct  permission  of  their  parents.  One  young  lady 
from  New  York  went  out  walking,  one  evening,  with  a 
young  gentleman  in  the  neighborhood,  and  when  the  fact 
became  known  in  the  school,  it  was  quite  unnecessary  for 
the  principal  to  reprimand  her.  The  girls  took  it  up, 
and  made  it  very  certain  that  no  other  pupil  in  the 
school  would  ever  try  that  again. 

And  as  to  correspondence,  I  need  hardly  say  that  the 
outrageous  indecency,  not  to  say  state  prison  offence,  of 
opening  a  pupil's  letter,  was  never  committed  by  the 
principal  of  the  Lexington  school. 

Almost  the  noblest  and  most  promising  young  woman 
I  have  ever  met,  told  me,  some  years  ago,  when  she  was 
about  to  enter  a  young  ladies'  seminary,  where  it  was 
the  system  to  correspond  through  the  principal,  that  she 
had  instructed  her  friends  not  to  write  her,  for  if  the 
manager  of  the  school  were  to  open  a  letter  of  hers  she 
would  have  him  arrested  and  tried  for  a  state  prison 
offence. 

I  need  hardly  say  to  those  who  have  studied  the 
sources  of  human  character,  that  the  peculiar  system  of 
management  at  the  Lexington  school  was  infinitely  more 
valuable  to  its  pupils  than  the  contents  of  all  the  class 
books. 

A  conscientious,  exalted  womanhood  is  worth  a  mil- 
lion times  more  than  all  libraries.  I  need  not  add  that 
the  police  system  of  school  government  is  opposed  to  the 
cultivation  of  such  a  womanhood. 


22  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 


in. 


IN  the  early  stages  of  human  development,  brute 
force  was  the  only  means  of  securing  obedience. 
And  even  among  our  own  people  of  to-day,  thousands 
of  parents  beat  their  children's  heads  to  make  them  obey. 
When  people  become  enlightened,  beating  gives  way  to 
reason  and  persuasion. 

When  I  was  a  boy,  the  pupil  that  escaped  whipping 
for  a  whole  term  was  a  curiosity.  In  a  school  where  I 
spent  a  year,  the  whip  was  in  almost  constant  use.  I 
saw  a  class  of  forty- six  boys  and  girls  stand  up  in  a  row 
to  be  whipped,  and  as  in  turn  they  got  their  beating, 
they  took  their  seats.  The  plan  of  punishment  differed 
a  little  with  the  two  sexes.  The  teacher  stood  with 
his  legs  apart,  and  each  boy  got  down  on  his  hands  and 
feet,  and  crawled  between  the  teacher's  legs.  The  idea 
was  for  the  teacher  to  bring  his  legs  together  suddenly, 
and  catch  the  urchin ;  then  holding  him  fast,  he  would, 
with  a  big  ruler,  give  him  about  ten  ringing  blows.  If 
a  boy,  thus  down  on  all  fours,  succeeded  in  plunging 
through  three  times  without  being  caught  by  the  teach- 
er's knees,  he  went  free  ;  but  this  very  rarely  occurred. 
The  girls  were  not  put  through  this  game  of  all  fours, 
but  each  girl  stood  up  like  a  man,  and  took  the  whip 
over  her  shoulders.  In  that  school,  which  was  in  the 
fine  town  of  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  and  kept  by  Dr.  Tucker,  a 
famous  teacher,  I  saw  a  girl,  eighteen  years  old,  whipped, 
in  the  presence  of  the  school,  till  she  fainted.  Dr.  Tucker 
was  paid  a  large  salary  because  of  his  ability  to  govern. 
Such  brutalities  excited  no  comment,  that  I  can  recall ; 
certainly  there  was  no  general  protest,  for  Dr.  Tucker 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  23 

remained,  to  the  last,  the  most  popular  teacher  in  town. 
I  never  heard  any  one  claim  for  him  any  excellence 
except  his  remarkable  talent  for  governing.  He  did  not 
lay  down  the  whip  from  morning  till  night,  and  it  was 
rare  'that  an  hour  passed  without  its  being  used. 

Only  a  little  more  than  forty  years  have  passed  since 
those  days,  and  now  in  most  parts  of  the  country  we  do 
not  allow  a  teacher  to  beat  his  pupils  at  all,  and  I  may 
add  that  for  fifty  parental  whippings -forty  years  ago,  we 
have  now  perhaps  one  or  two.  Progress  in  this  direc- 
tion has  been  very  rapid. 

In  the  treatment  of  men,  the  change  has  likewise  been 
very  marked.  Forty  years  ago  men  were  not  only 
whipped  in  the  army  and  navy,  but  were  whipped  and 
pilloried  in  civil  life.  A  man  was  often  whipped,  and 
then  fastened  in  a  pillory,  where  he  was  left,  for  a  time, 
for  the  boys  to  throw  putrid  eggs  at.  I  never  saw  a 
man  in  a  pillory,  but  the  scene  has  been  described  so 
often,  that  I  think  I  understand  it.  His  head  and  face 
are  in  full  view,  and  the  boys,  having  saved  up  bad  eggs 
for  the  pillory  days,  stand  off  a  little  distance,  and  prac- 
tise on  him.  There  is  a  great  roar  when  a  bad  egg  hits 
him  in  the  mouth,  for  as  his  hands  are  fastened,  he  can- 
not remove  the  horrible  stuff  from  his  mouth  and  nostrils. 

If  we  go  a  little  farther  back,  say  three  hundred  years, 
we  find  that  our  English  ancestors  treated  their  poor  and 
vicious  much  worse.  If  a  poor  man,  not  being  able  to 
get  a  living  in  one  place,  went  to  another  neighborhood, 
they  called  him  a  tramp,  and  anybody  might  take  pos- 
session of  him,  and  keep  him  for  his  own  use,  and  whip 
him  at  his  own  pleasure.  The  owner  gave  him  to  eat 
whatever  he  chose,  the  law  presuming  that  if  he  was 
worth  feeding,  his  owner  would  feed  him.  If  he  tried 
to  run  away,  killing  him  was  no  crime. 

Numerous  cases  occurred  in  which  a  nobleman  killed 


24  THE    TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

a  man  for  objecting  to  his  (the  nobleman's)  intimacies 
with  the  man's  wife  or  daughter.  The  killing  of  a  poor 
man  by  a  nobleman  was  not  attended  by  any  risk  of 
punishment. 

I  have  mentioned  these  cases  of  brutaUty  as  samples 
of  the  spirit  in  which  the  weak  and  vicious  have  hereto- 
fore been  treated. 

Of  course  everybody  knows,  now,  that  a  little  kindness 
and  trust  are  a  hundred-fold  more  potent  in  securing 
right  conduct.  There  never  was  a  bad  man  or  woman 
on  this  planet  who  could  not  be  influenced  more  by  an 
hour's  reasoning,  and  gentle  words,  than  by  ten  years  of 
cruelty  and  torture ;  but  the  passion  which  beats  chil- 
dren's heads,  and  whips  men,  to  make  them  submit,  re- 
fuses to  consider  reason  and  kindness.  No  matter  whether 
it  is  drunkards,  rum-sellers,  or  prostitutes, —  few  persons 
ask  whether  kindness  would  help ;  but  the  first  and  last 
question  is,  In  what  way  can  we  punish  them? 

When  the  women  began  the  Crusade  in  Ohio,  I  was 
deeply  interested  in  their  views  of  rum-sellers. 

In  one  of  the  first  meetings,  an  intelligent  lady,  the 
wife  of  a  clergyman,  exclaimed,  — 

"  What !  go  right  into  those  dreadful  places,  and  face 
those  horrible  men  !  I  should  as  soon  think  of  entering 
the  infernal  regions.  O,  no ;  anything  but  that.  I  am 
willing  to  pray  for  them,  but  as  to  goiog  into  those 
dreadful  places,  among  those  imps  of  darkness,  I  can't 
think  of  it." 

A  month  later  I  heard  that  same  lady  describe,  with 
many  tears  and  the  tenderest  emotions,  her  visits  to 
some  of  the  worst  groggeries.  She  said,  — 

"  Dear  friends,  it  would  soften  your  hearts  toward 
these  poor  drinking  creatures,  and  toward  the  rum-sellers, 
if  you  could  only  see  how  kindly  they  treat  us.  I  can 
never  go  to  those  places  without  weeping.  They  are 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  25 

• 

just  as  gentle  and  kind  to  us  as  though  we  were  their 
own  sisters." 

In  all  the  accounts  illustrating  the  power  of  moral 
influence  over  the  most  brutal  class  of  our  population,  I 
know  of  none  more  interesting  than  the  story  of  Captain 
Maconochie,  and  his  work  on  Norfolk  Island.  The 
population  here  was  made  up  of  fourteen  hundred  pris- 
oners and  their  jailers.  These  prisoners  were  the  very 
scum  of  criminal  society,  the  most  hardened  offenders, 
from  the  prisons  of  New  South  Wales  and  Van  Diemen's 
Land.  They  were  treated  with  incredible  cruelty. 
They  were  beaten,  starved,  and  chained.  Their  self- 
respect  was  broken  in  every  possible  way;  and,  says 
Captain  Maconochie,  — 

"  A  more  demoniacal  assemblage  could  not  be  imagined. 
The  most  formidable  sight  I  ever  beheld  was  the  sea  of 
faces  upturned  to  me,  when  I  first  addressed  them." 

This  good  man  held  out  a  brother's  hand  to  them.  He 
elevated  them  in  their  own  eyes,  and  they  joined  with 
him  in  practical  efforts  toward  bettering  their  condition. 
It  is  a  long  story,  and  the  result,  as  given  by  Captain 
Maconochie,  is  the  following  :  — 

"  I  found  the  island  a  brutal  hell,  and  I  left  it  a  peace- 
ful, well-ordered  community.  Officers,  women  and  chil- 
dren, traversed  the  island  everywhere,  without  fear ;  and 
huts,  gardens,  stock-yards,  and  growing  crops  were  scat- 
tered in  every  corner,  without  molestation." 

How  great  this  work  was,  perhaps  could  only  be 
rightly  estimated  by  those  who  were  witnesses  of  the 
wonderful  changes.  Said  one  of  the  prisoners,  a  vic- 
tim of  the  old  system  of  torture,  "  When  a  prisoner  was 
sent  to  Norfolk  Island,  he  lost  the  heart  of  a  man,  and 
got  that  of  a  beast  instead." 

As  an  illustration  of  Captain  Maconochie's  treatment, 
I  select  one  striking  case.  There  was  a  man  named 


26  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

Anderson,  who,  from  the  age  of  eighteen  to  twenty-four, 
appeared  to  have  run  the  whole  gamut  of  crime.  Re- 
peated flogging  had  only  rendered  him  more  violent  and 
hardened.  Finally,  so  desperate  arid  dangerous  a  char- 
acter had  he  become,  that  he  was  sentenced  to  be  chained 
to  a  rock  for  two  years.  He  was  fastened  by  a  chain,  his 
bed  was  a  hollow  scooped  in  the  rock,  his  food  was 
passed  to  him  by  means  of  a  long  pole.  His  flesh  was 
devoured  by  vermin,  and  he  was  not  allowed  water  to 
bathe  his  sores.  Yet  all  this  never  subdued  his  spirit. 

Captain  Maconochie  found  and  freed  him,  and  treated 
him  like  a  human  being.  The  sequel  is  thus  told  :  — 

"  Sir  George  Gibbs  visited  the  island  three  years  after 
Captain  Maconochie's  arrival,  and,  while  driving  through 
its  beautiful  scenery,  Anderson  was  seen  tripping  along 
in  his  trim  sailor  dress,  full  of  importance,  with  his  tele- 
scope under  his  arm.  t  What  little  smart  fellow  may  that 
be  ?  '  asked  Sir  George.  '  Whom  do  you  suppose  ?  That 
is  the  man  who  was  chained  to  the  rock  in  Sydney  Har- 
bor.7 Sir  George  was  greatly  surprised  and  affected." 

We  have  a  similar  example  in  the  case  of  the  prisons 
at  Munich.  The  prisoners  were  celebrated  as  the  most 
brutalized  among  these  brutal  classes.  They  were 
guarded  by  ferocious  dogs ;  they  were  heavily  chained, 
and  flogged  for  the  slightest  offence.  In  consequence, 
they  were  treacherous,  cruel,  dangerous. 

At  last  the  prisons  passed  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Ober- 
mair,  a  man  who  "  founded  his  system  on  the  conviction 
that  the  worst  criminal  preserves  the  germ  of  some  good 
quality,  and  that  discipline  based  rather  on  mercy  than 
severity,  by  appealing  to  the  nobler  instead  of  the  brutal 
instincts  of  humanity,  will  awaken  a  new  feeling  in  the 
mind  of  the  convict,  —  that  of  self-respect,  —  and  thus 
develop  those  moral  qualities  which,  though  dormant, 
are  never  completely  extinct.'7 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  27 

As  a  result  of  his  system,  we  find  that,  of  two  hundred 
and  ninety-eight  prisoners  discharged  within  the  two 
years  of  his  administration,  two  hundred  and  forty-six  af- 
terward led  honest,  industrious  lives  ;  although  more  than 
half  of  them  had  been  convicted  for  homicide,  felony,  or 
murder.  As  an  instance  of  practical  reform  from  the 
law  of  love,  this  is  very  striking. 

The  name  of  Mrs.  Fry  is  familiar  to- all ;  yet  few  know 
of  the  difficulties  attending  the  beginning  of  her  work. 
Within  a  few  months,  this  delicate  woman,  only  strong  in 
her  love,  accomplished  what  the  prison  authorities  de- 
clared an  impossible  thing.  She  began  her  work  at 
Newgate,  where  three  hundred  women,  with  their 
wretched  children,  were  huddled  together  like  pigs  in 
a  pen.  They  were  the  vilest  of  the  vile  ;  fighting,  drink- 
ing, blaspheming  day  and  night.  The  very  jailers  would 
not  trust  themselves  among  them  unless  heavily  armed. 

She  appeared  among  them  armed  only  with  peace  and 
love.  She  touched  their  rocky  hearts,  and  the  waters 
of  repentance  gushed  forth.  In  six  months'  time  the 
miracle  had  been  wrought  which  love,  and  nothing  but 
love,  can  achieve. 

If  one  only  observes  and  thinks,  he  is  astonished  to 
find  how  little  law  has  to  do  with  the  general  good  con- 
duct of  society.  Let  us  watch  the  life  of  a  man  for  a 
day.  He  rises  in  the  morning,  speaks  kindly  to  his  wife 
and  children,  although  there  is  no  law  requiring  it ;  he 
goes  down  the  street,  speaks  kindly  to  children  and  his 
neighbors ;  goes  to  his  place  of  business,  treats  his  fel- 
low-workmen with  kindness  and  justice,  gives  during  the 
day  a  shilling  or  a  dollar  to  a  beggar,  and  goes  home 
to  greet  his  wife  and  children  pleasantly  in  the  evening, 
and  retires  to  rest  without  having  thought  of  the  law 
during  the  day.  He  has  not  done  one  thing  or  omitted 
to  do  one  thing  because  of  the  law. 


28  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

My  reader,  do  you  remember  ever  to  have  done  any- 
thing in  your  life,  or  refrained  from  doing  anything,  be- 
cause of  the  statutes  ?  If  we  could  only  realize  how  little 
civil  law  contributes  to  the  good  conduct  and  well-being 
of  society,  our  interest  in  the  legislature  would  be  greatly 
lessoned.  If  the  legislature  sticks  its  clumsy  fingers  into 
our  affairs,  so  as  to  conflict  with  our  notions  of  liberty, 
we  sneer  at  it,  as  in  the  case  of  the  prohibitory  liquor 
law  ;  or  with  our  notions  of  honor,  we  treat  it  with  silent 
contempt,  as  in  the  case  of  usury. 

Of  the  millions  upon  millions  of  acts  of  kindness  and 
justice  which  go  to  make  up  civilized  life,  I  take  it  that 
nine  in  ten  would  never  be  performed  at  all  if  they  were 
required  by  law. 

During  my  residence  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  we  were  startled 
one  morning  by  the  report  that  a  canal-boat,  containing 
two  men,  had  floated  down  the  river,  and  was  hanging 
on  some  rocks  just  above  Niagara  Falls.  I  went  down 
.on  the  next  train,  and  found  that  the  boat  was  balancing 
on  a  rock  in  a  very  critical  position ;  but  the  two  men 
had  left  the  barge  in  a  small  boat  half  a  mile  above,  and 
escaped  in  safety.  I  found  a  company  of  men  trying  to 
save  a  dog  which  had  been  left  on  the  boat. 

It  was  momentarily  expected  that  the  old  craft  would 
escape  from  its  moorings  and  go  over  the  cataract. 

A  hundred  men  were  on  the  shore,  long  after  dark, 
devising  and  contriving,  but  at  length  adjourned  till 
morning.  It  was  agreed  that  they  should  be  on  the  spot 
at  daylight,  and  if  the  dog  —  who  had  been  running  back 
and  forth  on  the  deck  during  the  day,  seeming  to  appre- 
ciate the  imminent  danger  —  was  still  there,  they  would 
rescue  him. 

I  was  very  curious  to  see  whether  this  grand  enthu- 
siasm over  the  fate  of  a  dog  would  last  till  morning.  At 
the  day  dawn  I  was  on  the  spot,  and  found  more  than 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  29 

one  hundred  men  already  there.  Two  brave  fellows, 
who  had,  during  the  night,  secured  a  light,  strong  boat, 
proposed  to  go  some  little  distance  above  and  row  across, 
each  having  a  rope  tied  about  his  body,  so  that  they 
might  be  drawn  ashore  should  the  boat  fail  them.  When 
they  were  ready  to  leave  on  their  desperate  venture, 
there  was  an  immense  crowd  gathered  on  the  shore, 
swayed  with  intense  emotion.  The  two  brave  fellows 
threw  off  all  their  outer  clothing,  took  their  seats  in  the 
boat,  and  began  their  desperate  pull. 

But,  before  they  were  half  way  over,  it  was  very  ob- 
vious that  they  must  be  dashed  on  some  large  rocks  in 
the  midst  of  the  rushing  waters,  a  little  way  below  their 
track,  and  over  which  the  torrent  broke  with  terrific  force. 

A  cry  of  horror  went  up  from  the  crowd.  The  two 
young  men  threw  up  their  hands,  the  signal  agreed  upon 
with  their  friends  on  shore,  and  leaped  into  the  rushing 
waters. 

In  less  than  a  minute  they  were  in  our  arms  ;  but  one 
of  them  was  insensible,  and  the  other  was  bleeding  pro- 
fusely from  the  nose.  In  a  minute  or  two  the  insensible 
man  became  conscious,  and  the  two  brave  fellows  rose, 
grasped  each  other's  hands,  and  one  said  to  the  other, — 

"  Jim,  we  will  save  that  dog  or  die." 

The  two  young  men  spoke  low  together  for  a  moment, 
when  one  of  them  said  to  a  man  standing  near,  — 

"  Bring  the  little,  short  boat," 

The  man,  with  others,  ran  off  for  the  boat,  and  in  half 
an  hour  our  two  heroes  were  ready,  at  a  point  higher  up 
the  river.  Each  had  a  rope  tied  about  his  waist,  and 
they  took  an  extra  rope  for  the  dog. 

When  they  pushed  out  from  the  shore,  the  crowd, 
which  had  now  increased  to  many  thousands,  shouted 
words  of  fear  and  despair,  or  of  courage  and  hope.  As 
the  two  young  fellows,  who  were  evidently  persons  of 


30  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

immense  strength  and  desperate  courage,  pulled  through 
the  foaming  torrent,  the  crowd  on  shore  cried  out,  "  They 
are  lost!"  "No;  they'll  fetch  it!"  "My  God,  they 
arc  gone  !  "  "  No  ;  there  they  are  !  "  and,  when  at  length 
they  struck  the  bow  of  their  tiny  craft  against  the  canal- 
boat,  and  swung  around  under  it,  such  shouts  were  never 
before  heard  from  five  thousand  throats,  as  went  up  from 
that  crowd.  And  when  the  two  heroes  quietly  kissed 
their  hands  to  us,  it  was  agreed  that  they  were  the 
coolest,  bravest  men  that  ever  lived. 

One  of  them  climbed  to  the  deck  of  the  canal-boat, 
where  the  demonstrations  of  the  poor  dog  were  most 
touching.  Soon  the  dog  was  handed  down  into  the  small 
boat,  the  extra  rope  was  tied  about  him,  and  they  were 
ready  to  attempt  the  return. 

Now  they  motion  to  their  friends  on  shore  to  go  far 
down  the  bank.  They  have  evidently  resolved  to  at- 
tempt the  return  below  the  rocks  on  which  their  first 
boat  went  to  pieces.  They  wait  for  some  time  to  gather 
breath  and  strength,  and  they  point  out  to  each  other  the 
dangers  and  chances.  And  now  they  brace  themselves, 
and  push  out  into  the  surging  waters  !  We  send  up  one 
wild  shout,  and  then  lean  forward  and  watch  in  breath- 
less silence  the  heroic  struggle. 

Good  God !  they  are  lost !  Nothing  can  save  them ! 
But  instantly  they  rise  from  their  seats,  one  of  them 
throws  up  his  hands  as  the  signal  to  pull,  the  other  lifts 
the  dog  in  his  arms,  and  they  leap  into  the  mad  torrent. 
In  two  minutes  men  and  dog  are  in  our  midst,  and  we 
are  rubbing  them  back  into  life.  The  crowd,  now  ten 
thousand  in  number,  lift  up  the  heroes,  and  carry  them 
with  shouts  "of  triumph  to  the  nearest  hotel,  where  they 
receive  every  attention. 

I  do  not  know  what  the  statute  is  in  regard  to  the 
saving  of  a  spaniel  dog  of  medium  size,  with  his  rights, 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  31 

dignity,  appurtenances  aforesaid,  &c.,  &c.,  when  in  peril 
above  Niagara  Falls ;  but  I  venture  the  assertion  that, 
if  those  young  men  had  known  of  the  existence  of  such  a 
law,  Carlo  would  have  been  left  to  go  over  the  cataract. 

What  an  inconceivable  stupidity  to  treat  creatures  ca- 
pable of  such  sublime  heroism,  as  the  law  treats  the  vic- 
tims of  vice !  Man  is  made  in  the  image  of  God.  He 
never  loses  the  divine  spark.  How  stupid  and  brutal  to 
beat  and  imprison  his  body  for  vicious  indulgences,  in- 
stead of  fanning  that  divine  spark  into  a  flame  ! 

But  it  is  just,  and  always  just,  to  punish  crimes  by  law. 
On  another  page  the  distinction  between  a  vice  and  a 
crime  is  given,  so  that  no  one  will  fail  to  see  the  justice 
of  punishing  crimes}  and  the  great  injustice  of  punishing 
vices. 


IV. 

THE  business  of  the  government  is  to  protect  the  citi- 
zen. The  governor  is  simply  the  chief  of  the  police. 
Some  people  think  that  the  governor  is  the  commanding 
general  of  the  state,  the  governor's  council  his  staff 
officers,  and  the  State  House  the  headquarters.  To  the 
criminals  of  the  state  the  governor  is  the  commanding 
general ;  but  to  you,  the  respectable  citizens,  he  is  no 
more  than  the  policeman  who  tramps  up  and  down  the 
streets  all  night  through  the  storm,  while  you  are  in  your 
comfortable  beds.  To  the  criminal  the  chief  of  police  in 
a  city  is  a  great  man  ;  but  to  the  respectable  citizen  he 
is  only  an  officer  with  bright  buttons,  whose  function  it 
is  to  keep  the  sidewalk  clear.  To  gaping  ignorance  the 
governor  is  a  great  man ;  but  to  the  intelligent  citizen 


32  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

lie  is  only  another  policeman,  without  bright  buttons, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  keep  watch,  and  see  that  he,  the  sov. 
ereign  citizen,  is  in  no  way  disturbed  as  he  walks  about 
in  pursuit  of  his  profit  or  pleasure. 

Tiie  governor  is  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  army 
of  criminals,  but  has  no  more  authority  over  other  people 
than  he  has  over  the  inhabitants  of  another  planet.  On 
the  contrary,  he  is  simply  and  only  the  head  of  that  po- 
lice whose  duty  it  is  to  keep  awake  and  watch  while 
their  masters  sleep.  I  would  not  underrate  the  impor- 
tance of  this  function.  All  useful  labor,  if  faithfully 
performed,  becomes  honorable  ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  denied 
that  the  sovereign  citizen  of  the  highest  class  steps  a 
long  way  down  when  he  enters  the  police  force. 

If  you  wish  to  see  how  much  the  governor  and  the 
legislature  enter  into  the  thought  and  life  of  the  best 
class  of  citizens,  spend  an  evening  in  a  social  gathering 
of  our  best  people,  and  you  will  never  hear  the  State 
House  mentioned,  unless  in  contempt  for  some  of  its  im- 
pertinences. But  if  you  go  down  to  the  North  End,  the 
governor  and  the  chief  of  police  fill  the  conversation,  as 
the  sayings  and  doings  of  the  officers  in  an  army  fill  the 
conversation  of  the  common  soldier. 

It  is  constantly  complained  that  the  best  citizens  will 
not  accept  political  office.  It  is  true  ;  and,  as  people 
become  more  and  more  enlightened,  rich,  and  indepen- 
dent, it  will  be  more  and  more  difficult  to  secure  first- 
class  citizens  to  serve  in  any  political  office.  We  have 
not  had  a  first-rate  man  as  President  of  the  United  States 
in  forty  years ;  I  mean,  first-rate  in  culture  and  morals. 
All  of  which  means  this,  and  only  this :  that  political  of- 
fice, as  an  occupation,  is  far  below  the  highest  level  of 
the  private  citizen's  life. 

If  the  legislature  met  once  in  five  or  ten  years,  and  re- 
mained together  a  few  days,  or  a  few  weeks,  to  attend  to 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  33 

really  important  business,  I  think  the  character  of  the 
State  House  would  be  so  improved  that  the  best  citizens 
would  consent  to  serve ;  but  as  it  is  now,  when  every 
possible  expedient  is  resorted  to  to  make  business,  when 
nothing  is  really  done  till  the  last  few  days  of  a  six 
months'  session,  except  to  ferret  out  the  corruption  of 
the  members,  —  to  find  out  how  much  the  Hon.  Mr.  A. 
or  the  Hon.  Mr.  X.  has  stolen,  —  how  can  we  blame  the 
best  citizens  for  not  liking  to  be  mixed  up  in  such  a 
business  ? 

All  this  corruption  grows  out  of  the  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  legislature  to  do  what  they  have  no  business 
with.  Let  them  confine  themselves  to  providing  meth- 
ods of  punishing  criminals,  and  leave  the  people's  busi- 
ness to  the  people  themselves,  and  they  would  quickly 
win  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  public,  and  all 
this  miserable  lobbying,  and  jobbery,  and  corruption 
would  cease. 


V. 

LAW-MAKING  is  our  mania.  We  are  about  the  first 
people  that  have  had  perfect  liberty  in  the  business, 
and  we  are  nearly  crazy  over  it. 

It  is  astonishing  with  what  rapidity  the  wheel  turns  — 
twenty-six  hundred  laws  during  a  single  session.  The 
state  printers  are  frequently  compelled  to  keep  their  men 
up  all  night  to  print  these  laws. 

But  the  respect  of  the  people  fails  to  keep  pace  with 
the  magnitude  of  this  work.  At  the  conclusion  of  a  ses- 
sion, during  which  laws  enough  have  been  ground  out 


34  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

to  fill  several  great  volumes,  the  newspapers,  not  unfre- 
quently  of  both  parties,  denounce  the  legislature  as 
utterly  "  imbecile  and  corrupt,"  and  they  rejoice  that  "  at 
last  our  law-makers  have  gone  home,  so  that  their  blun- 
dering and  mischief  have  come  to  an  end."  It  is  con- 
stantly charged,  by  those  who  have  good  reason  to  know, 
that  the  legislature  of  this  or  that  state,  or  the  national 
legislature,  can  be  bought ;  or  that  a  measure,  no  matter 
how  important,  will  inevitably  fail  unless  there  is  money 
in  it. 

The  conviction  is  well  nigh  universal  among  the  peo- 
ple that  these  charges  of  the  newspapers  are  well 
founded. 

These  legislatures  are  composed  of  merchants,  farmers, 
and  lawyers,  who,  at  home,  are  honorable  men;  but 
when  they  reach  the  State  House,  it  is  widely  believed 
they  put  themselves  up  to  the  highest  bidder. 

I  need  not  add  that  the  laws  which  come  from  such 
legislatures  fail  to  command  the  respect  of  the  people. 

The  contempt  with  which  the  people  regard  the  law, 
if  it  happens  to  conflict  with  their  notions  of  honor  or 
liberty,  is  very  emphatic.  Permit  me  to  illustrate  by  the 
law  against  usury. 

This  law  was  strong  and  explicit.  If  the  lender  took 
usury  he  forfeited  his  entire  claim.  And  yet  a  large  part 
of  the  money  received  usurious  interest.  During  one  "of 
our  revulsions  a  single  bank  in  Boston  received  more  than 
a  thousand  dollars  a  day  usurious  interest.  During  that 
trying  season  there  was  not,  probably,  a  business  man  in 
Boston  who  did  not  pay  usury,  and  there  was  not  a  day, 
except  Sundays  and  holidays,  when  there  were  not 
thousands  of  our  citizens  paying  usury.  Why  did  they 
not  fall  back  on  "  a  wise  and  beneficent  law,"  defend  the 
dignity  of  the  State  House,  and  at  the  same  time  make  a 
fortune  ?  It  was  a  short  road  to  wealth,  a  straight  and 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  35 

simple  one,  and,  what  one  would  suppose  every  good 
citizen  should  prize,  it  was  strictly  legal. 

I  ask,  why  did  not  these  victims  of  usury  avail  them- 
selves of  this  open  door  to  wealth  ? 

Everybody  is  prepared  to  respond, — 

"  Because  there  is  something  in  man,  a  something 
known  as  honor,  which  is  a  thousand  fold  stronger  than 
his  love  for  money  and  his  reverence  for  law  combined." 

This  case  is  one  of  those  (and  they  are  numerous) 
which  clearly  exhibits  the  weakness  of  a  legislative  enact- 
ment, when  it  happens  to  conflict  with  our  sense  of 
honor. 

The  legislature  of  a  great  state  enacts  that  whoever 
takes  usurious  interest  shall  forfeit  his  claim.  Legisla- 
ture after  legislature  reaffirm  the  law.  It  is  a  fixed  and 
settled  policy,  and  is  continued,  without  essential  change, 
for  generations. 

Now  consider  the  situation.  It  is  the  year  1837. 
Honor  and  confidence  tremble  in  the  balance.  No  man 
knows  where  he  stands,  or  whom  he  can  trust.  Borrowers 
crowd  every  place  where  money  is  to  be  had.  Millions 
upon  millions  are  lent  every  day.  Ruin  stares  thousands 
in  the  face.  Every  conceivable  method  of  raising  the 
wind  is  considered.  Conscience  retires  from  the  strug- 
gle. In  all  this  crowd  of  anxious,  frightened  men,  run- 
ning hither  and  thither,  there  is  scarcely  a  man  who 
might  not  step  out  of  the  fight  and  retire  rich,  if  he 
would  only  say,  — 

"  I  refuse  to  pay  usury ;  it  is  against  the  laws  of  my 
country." 

That  is  all.  It  would  be  legal,  and  what  is  legal  must 
be  honest,  especially  if  the  law  be  one  which  has  been 
so  long  and  carefully  considered  and  reconsidered  as  this 
law  of  usury. 

Surely,  in  this  crowd  of  frightened  men,  vou  need  not 
3 


36  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

go  far  to  find  a  man  who  would  defy  almost  any  law  on 
the  statutes  to  escape  the  impending  ruin,  but  not  one 
will  plead  usury  to  save  himself,  although,  in  paying  it, 
he  becomes  an  accomplice  in  a  violation  of  a  statute  law. 

1  need  not  undertake  to  explain  this.  Instinct  is 
quicker  than  words.  Every  man  feels,  "  I  would  die 
rather  than  violate  my  honor" 

I  am  trying  to  illustrate  the  weakness  'of  civil  law,  and 
the  strength  of  honor. 

Many  years  ago  imprisonment  for  debt  was  in  vogue 
in  the  State  of  New  York. 

The  law  was  then  modified,  so  that  a  debtor  might  get 
bail,  and  go  out  of  prison ;  but  he  must  not  leave  the 
limits  of  the  corporation.  He  might  go  about  town  at 
pleasure,  but  must'  report  daily  at  the  jail,  and  must  not 
step  outside  of  the  limits  of  the  town.  With  this  modi- 
fication debts  were  better  paid. 

Again  the  law  was  modified,  and  the  person  of  the 
debtor  could  not  be  touched,  but  all  his  property  might 
be  seized.  A  marked  improvement  in  the  payment  of 
debts  was  observed.  Several  modifications  followed  from 
time  to  time,  in  which  the  principal  feature  was  a  suc- 
cessive increase  in  the  property  exempted  from  execu- 
tion. At  length  the  law  now  existing  in  New  York, 
exempting  "  the  homestead,"  was  enacted.  This  law  ex- 
empts the  home,  and,  if  a  farm,  the  team,  farming  imple- 
ments, &G.J  &c.,  so  that  a  man  may  be  a  well-to-do  farmer, 
with  every  comfort  and  convenience,  and  the  sheriff,  with 
an  execution  in  his  hand,  cannot  touch  a  thing.  The 
payment  of  debts  so  greatly  improved  under  this  law, 
that,  some  years  ago,  a  petition  from  many  wholesale 
merchants  of  New  York  city  was  presented  to  the  legis- 
lature at  Albany,  praying  for  a  repeal  of  all  laws  for  the 
collection  of  debts.  The  petition  was  properly  presented,' 
and  a  vigorous  speech  made  in  its  defence.  I  remember 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  37 

the  spokesman  for  the  merchants  of  New  York  said  that 
the  petitioners  were  satisfied  that  if  all  laws  for  the  col- 
lection of  debts  were  removed,  and  the  obligation  was 
left  to  the  honor  of  the  debtor,  their  claims  would  be 
more  promptly  and  surely  paid.  They  declared  that  if  a 
debtor  were  inclined  to  cheat,  there  were  so  many  ways  in 
which  he  could  dispose  of  his  property,  that  practically 
the  creditor  was  obliged  to  depend  upon  the  debtor's 
honor,  and  they  were  satisfied  that  the  sense  of  honor 
would  be  far  more  active  and  reliable  in  the  absence  of 
law.  In  illustration  the  gentleman  adduced  the  well- 
known  fact  that  a  man  will  pay  his  gambling  debts,  for 
which  he  has  received  nothing,  in  preference  to  his  gro- 
cery bills,  for  which  he  has  received  food  for  his  family, 
and  obviously  for  the  reason  that  the  gambling  debts 
cannot  be  collected  by  law.  He  adduced  likewise  the 
well-known  fact  that  Wall  Street  speculators  may  be  in- 
curable rogues  in  the  ordinary  legal  transactions  of  life, 
but  rarely  fail  to  pay  their  stock-gambling  debts,  and 
clearly  because  these  debts  cannot  be  collected  by  law, 
or,  in  other  words,  because  they  are  debts  of  honor. 

And  to  illustrate  the  utter  weakness  of  law  when  it 
conflicts  with  the  instinct  of  liberty,  I  may  mention  the  ' 
vice  of  gambling. 

Not  a  fiftieth  part  of  the  gambling  in  this  city  takes 
place  in  gambling  hells.  Why  does  it  never  occur  to 
anybody  to  attempt  to  enforce  the  law  against  gambling 
in  our  clubs,  and  other  respectable  houses  ?  and  why, 
should  they  attempt  it,  would  they  signally  fail? 

For  exactly  the  same  reason  that  the  state  constables 
failed  to  enforce  the  Prohibitory  Liquor  Law  against  the 
Parker  House  an^d  against  Young's  Hotel.  For  exactly 
the  same  reason  that  when  the  committee  from  the 
Young  Men's  Crusade,  of  Bangor,  Maine,  waited  upon 
the  mayor  of  that  city,  last  summer,  to  offer  their  ser- 


38  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

vices  in  the  better  enforcement  of  the  Maine  Law,  and 
proposed  to  bring  him  abundant  proof  that  the  hotels  in 
that  city  were  selling  intoxicating  drinks,  mentioned 
several  of  them,  and  asked,  if  they  brought  proofs,  whether 
he  would  have  the  proprietors  arrested  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Maine  Law?  The  mayor  replied. — 

"  But,  gentlemen,  these  hotels  are  kept  in  a  quiet, 
respectable  way.  I  can't  proceed  against  such  places. 
If  you  will  bring  me  evidence  that  any  of  these  places 
are  kept  in  a  riotous  manner,  I  will  have  them  prose- 
cuted as  nuisances.  But  if  they  keep  their  places  quiet 
and  decent,  public  sentiment  will  not  justify  any  inter- 
ference." 

And  yet  this  mayor  was  elected  by  the  prohibitionists, 
to  enforce  their  law,  and  was  himself  a  prohibitionist. 

I  have  said  that  the  law  against  gambling  fails  for  the 
same  reason  that  the  Maine  Law  fails  —  it  interferes 
with  personal  freedom. 

If  a  man  chooses  to  risk  his  money  on  a  game  of  cards, 
he  has  a  perfect  right  to  do  so.  No  man,  or  body  of  men, 
has  a  right  to  say  to  him,  "  You  shall  not  risk  your 
money  in  that  way."  It  is  his  money,  and  he  has  a  right 
to  do  what  he  pleases  with  it.  He  has  a  right  to  put  it 
in  a  gun  and  shoot  it  away,  or  burn  it  up,  or  risk  it  on  a 
game  of  chance,  or  make  any  other  disposition  of  it,  and 
no  man,  or  body  of  men,  has  a  right  to  interfere. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  regular  gambling  hells  are 
places  where  by  various  devices,  and  among  them  the  em- 
ployment of  drugged  liquors,  the  uninitiated  are  simply 
robbed,  and  turned  into  the  street;  and  therefore  it 
does  not  shock  public  sentiment  to  break  up  such  places. 

But  games  of  chance,  without  fraud,  are  not  interfered 
with,  and  never  will  be. 

A  very  striking  illustration  of  the  weakness  of  law, 
when  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  instinct  of  liberty,  is 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  39 

the  result  of  prohibition  in  Maine.  I  have  taken  pains 
to  learn  the  facts  in  Maine.  I  travelled  through  the 
state,  and  conversed  with  a  large  number  of  its  leading 
citizens,  almost  exclusively  temperance  men,  and  became 
satisfied  that  intemperance  is  the  great,  overwhelming 
curse  of  the  Pine  Tree  State.  In  New  York  city,  imme- 
diately after  leaving  Maine,  I  gave  a  number  of  facts,  in 
a  public  address,  which,  being  published  in  the  New  York 
dailies,  called  out  from  the  Maine  papers  the  cry  of  False- 
hood, falsehood  !  although  I  was  very  careful  to  state 
that  I  knew  nothing  of  the  truth  of  the  facts  of  my  own 
knowledge,  and  gave  the  names  of  my  informers.  All 
this  information  was  published  in  the  New  York  papers, 
and,  without  doubt,  read  in  Maine ;  but  the  pride  of  some 
of  the  Maine  editors  over  the  "  Maine  Law  "  was  such 
that  they  chose  rather  to  make  up  faces  at  me,  and  ring 
.the  changes  on  certain  hard  words,  than  to  explain  how 
well-known  citizens  of  Maine,  whose  names  were  given, 
as  authority  for  the  facts,  came  to  be  so  mistaken. 

Perhaps  a  few  official  figures  may  receive  better 
treatment. 

Of  persons  sent  to  the  insane  asylums,  in  Maine,  whose 
insanity  was  caused  by  intemperance,  there  were  in 


1863,  .  . 

.  .  .  7 

1869,  .  .  , 

,  .  .  15 

1864,  .  . 

.  .  .  11 

1870,  .  .  , 

,  .  .  22 

1865,  .  . 

.  .  .  10 

1871,  .  .  , 

,  .  .  11 

1866,  .  . 

.  .  .  14 

1872,  .  .  , 

,  .  .  26 

1867, 

.  21 

1873. 

26 

1868, 13 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  arrests  for 
drunkenness  in  the  city  of  Bangor  for  1862,  1863,  and 
1864,  and  then  for  1872, 1873,  and  1874.  That  city  con- 


40  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

tained   in  1870  a  population  of  eighteen  thousand  two 
hundred  and  eighty-nine. 

1862, 8  1872,      ....     459 

1863,  .     .     .     .     .10  1873,      ....     334 

1864,  .     .     .     .     .31  1874,      ....     850  ? 

When  I  was  in  that  city  last  spring,  the  Hon.  Lewis 
Barker,  who  had  been  engaged  by  the  prohibitionists  to 
look  up  the  facts,  told  me  there  were  fully  three  hundred 
grog-shops  in  Bangor. 

The  number  of  recent  arrests  for  drunkenness  in  other 
cities  and  towns  is  equally  significant.  The  number  of 
arrests  for  drunkenness  in  the  city  of  Portland,  for  a 
year  ending  March  30,  1874,  was  two  thousand  and 
eleven. 

Prohibitionists  in  Maine  tell  us  that  "  Rum  has  gone 
under,"  in  that  state.  Travellers  through  the  state  affirm 
that,  "  the  law  is  a  success ;  tipsy  people  are  nowhere  to 
be  seen ; "  while  the  inspectors  of  the  Maine  State 
Prison  report  that  in  1873  there  were  the  enormous 
number  of  seventeen  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight 
arrests  in  that  state  for  drunkenness. 

The  Maine  Law  provides  that  liquors  may  be  sold  for 
"  medicinal,  mechanical,  and  manufacturing  purposes," 
but  they  must  be  furnished  by  certain  agencies  appointed 
by  the  state.  It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  but  a  small  part 
of  the  liquors  sold  come  from  the  agencies  ;  and  even  the 
state  agencies,  curiously  enough,  do  not  procure  their 
stocks  from  the  Central  State  Agency,  but  obtain  them 
from  outside  sources.  Indeed,  of  the  five  hundred  and 
forty-two  municipalities  in  the  state,  Eaton  Shaw,  the 
State  Liquor  Commissioner,  complains  that  only  about 
one  hundred  purchase  their  stock  of  him.  I  wonder  that 
these  deputies  dare  neglect  their  chief;  but  although 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  41 

they  are  dependent  upon  him,  "  You  shall "  and  "  You 
shall  not  "  fail  to  work,  even  with  them. 

The  amount  of  sickness  in  Maine  must  be  fearful. 
Take  a  little  town  of  less  than  fifteen  hundred,  up  among 
the  hills  —  the  little  old-fashioned  town  of  Canaan,  with 
almost  no  foreign  population.  The  state  agent  in  Canaan 
sold,  in  1863,  liquors  to  the  amount  of  thirty-six  dollars 
and  seventy-five  cents  j  in  1865,  the  liquors  amounted  to 
twelve  hundred  and  ninety-two  dollars  and  fifty-two 
cents  ;  and  in  1867,  the  liquors  sold  by  the  Canaan  agency 
amounted  to  twenty-one  hundred  fifty-seven  dollars  and 
fifty-one  cents.  In  four  years  the  quantity  increased 
from  thirty-six  dollars  to  twenty-one  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  dollars. 

The  State  of  Maine  has  but  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifteen  inhabitants,  but 
the  quantity  of  intoxicating  drinks  consumed  in  that 
state,  according  to  the  report  of  the  Hon.  Joshua  Nye, 
the  chief  of  the  State  Constabulary,  was  enormous. 

That  intemperance,  insanity,  pauperism,  and  crime 
are  rapidly  increasing  in  Maine,  no  one  can  doubt  who 
will  carefully  read  her  annual  reports,  and  I  will  add 
that  so  long  as  human  nature  remains  what  it  is,  intem- 
perance, vice,  and  crime  must  ever  increase,  in  a  free 
country,  under  a  prohibitory  liquor  law. 

Some  other  states  have  tried  prohibition,  but  with  no 
better  success.  Indeed,  I  "think  all  the  other  experi- 
ments have  met  with  even  a  worse  fate  than  that  in 
Maine. 

But  the  friends  of  prohibition  walk  through  the  streets 
where  formerly  open  dram-shops  blazed  out  their  bright 
lights  at  every  step,  and  finding  no  such  sign's  of  the  busi- 
"ness  now,  they  straightway  go  and  announce  that  the  pro- 
hibitory law  is  a  triumphant  success. 

It  is  often  said,  — 


42  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

"  We  don't  pretend  that  the  law  against  dram-shops  is 
enforced  in  every  case.  But  this  is  the  fate  of  all  laws. 
The  law  against  theft  is  not  always  enforced,  and  even 
the  law  against  murder  sometimes  fails.  This  law  is  as 
well  enforced  as  other  laws." 

Exactly  this  statement  was  made  recently  in  Tremont 
Temple,  in  aft  address  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Eddy,  of  this  city. 
I  suppose  I  have  heard  that  statement  in  public  ad- 
dresses twenty  times  within  a  year. 

I  will  not  say  that  those  who  make  such  statements 
are  not  honest  men,  and  that  they  do  not  think  they  are 
speaking  the  truth ;  but  it  is  very  easy  to  show  that 
they  utterly  fail  to  comprehend  the  subject,  and  the  facts. 

It  is  true  that  thieves  and  murderers  do  sometimes 
crawl  through  the  meshes  of  the  law ;  but  is  it  not  true 
that  they  generally  escape  through  some  technicality 
which,  in  our  wisdom  or  unwisdom,  was  introduced  to 
protect  personal  liberty,  and  to  give  the  benefit  of  all 
doubts  to  the  prisoner  ? 

Professor  Webster  was  tried  for  murder,  and  in  spite  of 
a  powerful  combination  in  his  defence,  was  proved  guilty, 
and  hanged.  Harvey  D.  Parker  was  tried  under  the 
Prohibitory  Law,  and  although  not  a  person  in  Boston 
doubted  his  guilt,  although  no  one  doubted  that  he  vio- 
lated the  law  a  thousand  times  a  day,  although  it  was 
clearly  proved  in  court,  the  jury  simply  refused  to 
find  him  guilty. 

George  Young  was  tried  under  the  same  law,  and 
although  the  whole  town  was  in  a  broad  laugh  at  the 
absurdity  of  trying  to  prove  that  George  Young  sold  in- 
toxicating drinks,  —  a  thing  which  he  made  no  attempt 
to  conceal,  which  was  seen  daily  by  a  multitude,  which 
was  as  susceptible  of  proof  as  that  the  Metropolitan  Rail- 
road Company  runs  its  cars  through  Tremont  Street,  and 
the  sale  was  proved  in  court,  —  yet  the  jury  refused  to 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  43 

convict.  The  only  result  of  these  trials  was  to  bring 
civil  law  into  still  deeper  contempt. 

Of  course  it  will  be  said  that  although  the  law  has 
failed  in  Massachusetts,  we  have  only  to  go  to  Maine, 
and  there  we  shall  find  it  enforced.  This  is  a  popular 
delusion. 

.  There  are  over  three  hundred  known  dealers  in  Ban- 
gor,  who,  under  the  provisions  of  the  law,  might  be  im- 
prisoned, and  should  be  imprisoned ;  and  yet  for  years 
there  has  not  been  a  single  man  in  Bangor  locked  up 
for  selling  rum,  except  one,  who  was  confined  tempora- 
rily, and  in  this  case  it  was  really  not  because  he  vio- 
lated the  law,  but  because  he  was  so  savage  toward  an 
officer  who  called  upon  him.  And  we  are  gravely  told 
that  this  law  is  as  well  enforced  as  other  laws. 

The  sale  of  a  glass  of  grog  is  the  offence  we  are  dis- 
cussing, and  there  have  not  been  three  punishments  for 
each  million  violations  of  the  law  !  • 

And  we  are  told  that  this  law  is  as  well  enforced  as 
other  laws;  as  well,  for  example,  as  the  law  against 
theft. 

This  statement  is  of  a  sort  which  abounds  among  the 
public  advocates  of  prohibition,  and  is  not  a  whit  more 
erroneous  than  the  statements  which  were  published,  and 
largely  circulated,  in  a  pamphlet  known  as  "  A  Cloud  of 
Witnesses.77  I  may  add  that  all  the  evidence  you  need 
in  regard  to  the  character  of  that  remarkable  document, 
is  a  perusal  of  the  official  reports  of  the  Maine  State 
Prison  Inspectors,  Chief  Constable,  "  State  Liquor  Com- 
missioner," and  the  Police. 

It  is  insisted  that  in  Massachusetts  there  has  been  no 
honest  effort  to  enforce  the  law.  This  is  an  easy  charge 
to  make,  but  nothing  could  be  more  unjust  and  false. 

Did  not  the  friends  of  prohibition  select  their  own 
officers  to  administer  the  law?  Did  they  not  have  a 


44  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

large  force,  scattered  throughout  the  state,  whose  special 
duty  it  was  to  enforce  this  law?  Do  the  friends  of  pro- 
hibition mean  to  say  that  these  officers  turned  traitors  ? 

When  it  is  complained  that  the  officers  refuse  to  en- 
force the  Prohibitor}^  Law,  I  would  reply,  that  when  there 
was  not  a  fiftieth  part  of  the  temperance  sentiment  now 
existing,  there  was  no  difficulty  in  enforcing  the  law 
against  the  sale  to  drunkards  and  children.  That  law  is 
just,  and  it  will  never  be  difficult  to  enforce  it. 

The  reason  that  with  fifty-fold  more  temperance  senti- 
ment in  the  country,  it  is  impossible  to  enforce  the  Pro- 
hibitory Law,  is  not  because  the  arm  of  civil  law  is 
shortened,  but  because  the  mass  of  men  .will  never  con- 
sent, except  under  the  sway  of  an  irresistible  monarchy, 
to  give  up  their  liberty  to  do  what  they  please  with  them- 
selves and  their  own. 


VI. 

A  CRIME  is  any  act  which  one  man,  with  evil  intent, 
commits  upon  the  person  or  property  of  another, 
without  his  consent.     If  one  person,  with  evil  intent,  lay 
his  finger  upon  another,  without  the  latter's  consent,  it 
is  a  crime.     All  crimes  may  be  justly  punished  by  law. 

A  vice  is  any -injurious  act.  or  passion  in  which  a  per- 
son indulges  himself.  Malice,  hypocrisy,  envy,  hatred, 
avarice,  ambition,  falsehood,  indolence,  cowardice,  drunk- 
enness, gluttony,  &c.,  &c.j  are  vices.  Yices  are  not 
justly  punishable  by  law.  They  are  amenable  to  reason 
alone.  If  A  assists  B  to  indulge  -in  a  vice,  and  A  uses 
no  fraud,  and  B  is  compos  mentis  and  fully  consents,  A 
is  guilty  of  no  crime.  If  A  be  a  cook,  and  makes  for  B 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  45 

rich  and  delicious  dishes,  and  B  indulges  his  appetite  to 
such  an  extent  that  he  becomes  sick  and  dies,  A  is 
guilty  of  no  crime,  but  is,  at  the  worst,  an  accomplice  in 
a  vice.  If  A  be  a  vender  of  alcoholic  drinks,  and  sells 
B  intoxicating  drinks  at  his  solicitation,  A  is  guilty  of 
no  crime,  but,  at  the  worst,  is  an  accomplice  in  a  vice. 
B's  indulgence  in  the  strong  food  or  in  the  strong  drink, 
either  of  which  may  ruin  him,  is  not  a  crime  punishable 
by  law,  but  only  a  vice  amenable  to  reason  alone  ;  so 
A  is  guilty  of  no  crime,  but  only  of  being  an  accom- 
plice in  a  vice,  amenable  to  reason  alone. 
A  crime  must  possess  three  features. 

1.  There  must  be  at  least  two  persons  —  the  actor  and 
the  victim. 

2.  The  act  must  be  committed  with  evil  intent. 

3.  The  act  must  be  committed  without  the  consent  of 
the  victim. 

If  either  of  these  features  be  absent,  the  act  is  not  a 
crime. 

For  example,  our  wealthy  neighbor,  Reuben  Tarbox, 
having  no  family,  wills  his  fortune  to  his  cook.  That 
person,  knowing  that  his  master's  gout  depends  upon 
high  living,  makes  the  most  appetizing  and  luscious 
dishes,  that  the  heart  attack,  which  usually  kills  the  vic- 
tim in  such  cases,  may  be  hastened,  and  he  come  into 
possession  of  his  fortune.  This  would  be  a  sinful  selfish- 
ness, for  which  God  would  hold  him  responsible  ;  but  it 
is  no  crime  which  the  civil  law  could  punish.  One  con- 
dition of  a  crime  is  absent :  the  consent  of  the  victim 
is  not  withheld.  There  is  no  fraud,  and  Mr.  Tarbox 
freely  consents  ;  so  there  is  no  crime. 

If,  in  the  case  of  the  rum-seller,  we  assume  a  secret 
purpose  to  destroy  his  victim  (a  something  which  never 
exists ;  for  he  would  be  glad  if  the  drink  left  no  bad 
effects,  as  it  would  greatly  enhance  the  character  and 


46  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

profits  of  the  business),  but,  supposing  there  were  a 
secret  purpose  to  destroy  his  customers,  there  would  be 
no  crime,  unless  there  was  fraud,  or  unless  the  drinkers 
were  compelled  to  swallow  their  drinks. 


VII. 

¥E  have  grown  up  with  the  notion  that  the  liquor 
traffic  must  be  managed  by  law ;  and  so,  if  one 
starts  with  the  declaration  that  all  laws  in  regard  to  the 
sale  of  intoxicating  drinks  should  be  abolished,  he  cannot 
secure  a  fair  hearing.  The  prejudices  are  all  against 
him.  In  considering  the  principle  of  the  prohibitory 
liquor  law,  let  us  first  introduce  another  excess  —  glut- 
tony. 

Without  doubt,  gluttony  is  the  most  destructive  of  all 
our  vices.  It  obtains  among  all  classes,  both  sexes,  and 
all  ages.  Eminent  medical  men,  in  England  and  Amer- 
ica, declare  that  strong  food  can  count  ten  victims  where 
strong  drink  counts  one. 

Let  me  illustrate  by  a  common  case.  A  man  eats  so 
much,  and  such  bad  food,  that  he  is  often  sick,  and  always 
dyspeptic  and  unhappy.  Instead  of  being  a  support  to 
his  family,  he  is  a  nuisance.  Society  has  a  just  claim  to 
the  best  use  of  all  his  faculties.  He  utterly  repudiates 
this  claim,  and,  instead  of  rendering  fifty  years  of  useful 
labor,  he  imposes  a  tax  of  thirty  years'  care  of  a  disagree- 
able patient.  Is  this  a  fancy  picture  ?  I  declare  that  I 
have  known  fifty  victims  of  gluttony  to  one  victim,  of 
drunkenness. 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  47 

Yon  may  convince  a  glutton  that  his  rheumatism,  or 
gout,  or  fever,  or  dyspepsia  comes  of  table  excesses,  and 
he  may  resolve  to  reform ;  but,  as  soon  as  he  is  well,  he 
will  fall  again  into  the  same  excess. 

Now,  let  us  see  how  the  account  stands  between  society 
and  this  man.  He  honestly  owes  society  fifty  years  of 
work.  His  services  are  worth  a  thousand  dollars  a  year, 
or,  in  the  aggregate,  fifty  thousand  dollars  ;  and  society 
not  only  has  an  indisputable  claim  upon  the  work  which 
he  can  do  with  his  head  and  hands,  but  he  is  bound 
to  render  that  service  in  a  spirit  so  cheerful  that  he  shall 
contribute  to  the  happiness  as  well  as  the  material  pros- 
perity of  the  community.  This  is  the  just  claim  which 
society  has  upon  that  man. 

Now,  let  us  see  what  he  pays.  Look  at  him.  He  has 
the  rheumatism.  See  him  hobble.  Look  at  his  face. 
Hear  him  grunt  and  groan.  See  his  care-worn  wife  ap- 
plying the  fomentations  and  administering  the  medicines, 
and  hear  her  moans  of  discouragement.  I  but  echo  the 
voice  of  my  profession  when  I  say  that  nineteen  twen- 
tieths of  such  cases  come  of  table  excesses. 

Medical  men  will  bear  witness  that  the  case  I  have 
given,  represents  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  men. 
It  is  this  knowledge  which  led  one  of  the  most  eminent 
medical  men  in  America  to  go  farther  than  I  have  gone, 
and  declare  that  where  drink  can  count  one  victim,  glut- 
tony can  count  a  hundred. 

Now,  I  will  sue  that  man  for  repudiating  a  just  claim. 
I  bring  him  into  court.  The  judge  will  ask,  "  What  is 
the  case  ? "  I  describe  it.  I  say  the  man  owes  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  and  won't  pay.  The  judge  will  ask  for 
a  bill  of  particulars  j  and  when  I  explain  that  he  fails  to 
pay  by  abusing  himself,  the  judge  will  say, — 

"  Mr.  Clerk,  dismiss  the  case.  There  is  no  crime.  It 
is  a  vice,  and  we  do  not  punish  vices  in  this  court.  This 


48  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

man  has  not,  with  malice  prepense,  injured  the  person 
or  property  of  another,  and  therefore  there  is  no  offence 
which  can  be  tried  in  this  court." 

Indignant  at  this  defeat,  I  resolve  that,  if  I  can't  pun- 
ish the  person  himself,  I  will  punish  the  man  who  sold 
him  the  food.  When  I  bring  the  dealer  into  court  and 
present  the  case,  the  judge  would  say,  — 

"  This  trader  has  a  perfect  right  to  sell  beef,  and  but- 
ter, and  pepper,  and  pork,  and  can't  be  held  responsible 
for  any  misuse  of  them.  These  articles  must  be  sold. 
They  must  be  sold  in  large  quantities ;  and,  if  the  pur- 
chaser is  not  able  to  obtain  what  he  wishes  of  this  dealer, 
he  would  obtain  it  of  some  other.  The  articles  them- 
selves are  innocent  enough,  and  the  dealer  cannot  be 
held  responsible  for  the  misuse  which  the  purchaser  may 
make  of  them.  Mr.  Clerk,  discharge  the  accused." 

Finding  myself  foiled  in  my  efforts  to  secure  justice, 
I  determine  upon  a  "  movement ;  "  and  so  I  agitate  the 
public  mind,  and  at  length  secure  a  law  which  makes  the 
purchase  of  foods  difficult.  They  are  to  be  sold  only  in 
certain  places,  by  a  certain  class  of  persons,  and  under 
the  eye  of  officers  of  the  law. 

But  I  need  go  no  further  with  this  illustration.  Every- 
body sees  that  each  step  is  an  outrage  upon  personal 
liberty,  which  would  not  be  endured. 

If  the  prohibitory,  liquor  law  had  been  passed  fifty 
years  ago,  when  everybody  believed  in  strong  drink,  and 
almost  everybody  —  men,  women,  and  children  —  drank 
it,  the  case  would  be  completely  parallel  to  the  case  of 
the  food.  Would  it  not? 

What  is  the  situation  to-day?  We  have  forty  millions 
of  people.  Ten  millions  believe  that  lager  bier  is  health- 
ful and  necessary. 

Of  the  other  thirty  millions,  more  than  twenty-five 
believe  that  wines,  liquors,  and  ales  are  not  only  not 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  49 

harmful  per  se,  but  often  very  necessary.  On  every  hand 
doctors  prescribe  these  drinks  for  their  patients.  Con- 
sumptives are  put  upon  whiskey,  and  nursing  mothers 
are  directed  to  drink  beer.  Invalids  of  all  classes  are 
assured  by  the  doctors  that  a  little  wine,  or  a  little  por- 
ter, or  a  little  whiskey  will  prove  a  capital  medicine. 

This  makes  thirty-five  millions  of  the  population  who 
are  in  favor  of  the  use,  more  or  less,  of  intoxicating 
drinks.  Do  you  say  that  this  is  an  extravagant  state- 
ment? On  the  contrary,  I  do  not  believe  that  there  are 
a  million  of  people  in  this  country  who  think  alcohol  is, 
per  se,  a  poison.  For  myself,  I  believe  -it  is  a  poison  in 
the  smallest  quantities,  in  every  conceivable  form ;  but, 
although  I  lecture  on  temperance,  and  talk  much  in  pri- 
vate with  people  on  the  subject,  I  very  rarely  meet  a 
person  who  joins  me  in  the  opinion  that  alcohol  is,  per  se, 
a  poison. 

Here  we  .have  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  peo- 
ple, who  believe  in  alcoholic  drinks.  Do  you  think  that 
the  very  small  minority,  say  five  persons  in  forty,  may 
say  to  the  thirty-five,  — 

"  You  shall  not  purchase  the  drinks  which  you  believe 
good  and  necessary  "  ? 

I  know  that  the  five,  by  adroit  management,  by  insist- 
ing upon  prohibition  as  a  plank  in  the  platform,  and  by 
creating  the  impression  that  those  who  will  not  vote  for 
prohibition  are  in  favor  of  "  free  rum,"  have  contrived  to 
get  a  prohibitory  law  passed  ;  but  recently,  in  Massachu- 
setts, the  people  having  had  time  to  think  of  it,  thousands 
of  those  who  have  heretofore  voted  for  prohibition,  have, 
without  any  concerted  action,  but  each  man  by  himself, 
scratched  off  the  name  of  the  republican  candidate  for 
governor,  and  put  on  in  its  place  the  name  of  the  demo- 
cratic candidate,  and  solely,  as  we  all  know,  to  get  rid  of 
the  prohibitory  law. 


50  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

But  I  must  not  forget  to  bring  up  a  drinking  man  for 
trial. 

I  bring  him  into  court  because  he  has  gone  on  drink- 
ing until,  like  the  man  with  the  rheumatism  and  dyspep-. 
sia,  he  is  a  tax  rather  than  a  help. 

The  judge  asks,  "  What  is  the  case  ?  " 

I  state  it. 

"  Your  honor,  this  man  has  used  intoxicating  drinks 
until  he  has  spoiled  himself.  He  has  entirely  neglected 
to  take  care  of  his  wife  and  children.  Instead  of  earning 
a  thousand  dollars  a  year,  which  he  is  bound  to  do,  he  is 
a  tax  on  everybody  about  him." 

The  judge  interrupts  me. 

"  What  offence,  what  crime  has  the  man  committed  ?  " 

I  repeat  that  he  has  so  abused  himself  with  drink  that 
he  can't  support  his  family;  that  he  has  thus  cheated 
society  out  of  its  interest  in  him. 

The  judge  would  say,  — 

"  Mr.  Clerk,  dismiss  the  case  ;  here  we  punish  crimes. 
This  man  has  not,  with  malice  prepense,  interfered  with 
the  property  or  person  of  another." 

When  I  see  my  man  march  out  of  court  free,  I  deter- 
mine to  look  up  the  man  who  sold  him  the  drink,  and  so 
I  bring  him  into  court. 

The  judge  would  say,  — 

"  Mr.  Clerk,  dismiss  the  case.  This  trader  has  a  per- 
fect right  to  sell  alcoholic  liquors,  and  can't  be  held 
responsible  for  the  misuse  of  the  articles  in  which  he 
trades.  These  articles  must  be  sold.  They  must  be 
sold  in  large  quantities  ;  and,  if  the  purchaser  is  not  able 
to  obtain  what  he  wishes  of  this  person,  he  would  obtain 
it  of  some  other.  The  articles  themselves  are  innocent 
enough,  and  the  dealer  cannot  be  held  responsible  for 
the  misuse  which  the  purchaser  may  make  of  them." 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  51 


VIII. 

THE  real  question  is  that  of  the  right  to  swallow  alco- 
hol. If  a  man  has  a  legal  right  to  swallow  alcohol; 
he  has  the  right  to  buy  it,  and  the  dealer-  has  the  right 
to  sell  it.  Alcohol  is  a  very  harmless  and  useful  thing, 
until  it  is  taken  into  the  human  stomach.  It  does  no 
wrong  until  it  reaches  that  cavity.  Then  the  mischief 
begins.  Now,  if  a  man  has  a  legal  right  to  swallow  the 
article,  a  perfect  right  against  the  combined  world,  it  is 
absurd  to  treat  as  criminal  another  man  who  helps  him 
to  that  alcohol. 

John,  a  poor  man  who  lost  both  arms  in  the  war,  has  a 
perfect  right  to  marry  Jane.  It  may  be  that  their  mar- 
riage will  entail  upon  the  community  trouble,  and  ex- 
pense; but  John's  legal  right  to  marry  Jane  is  perfect. 
Friends  may  advise,  reason,  expostulate,  and  plead,  and 
the  .chances  are  nine  in  ten,  if  they  approach  John  in  the 
right  spirit,  they  will  dissuade  him;  but  if  the  president, 
and  the  governor,  and  the  general,  and  the  judge,  and 
the  chief  of  police,  and  the  pastor,  and  all  others  in  au- 
thority go  to  John  and  command  him  not  to  marry  Jane,  he 
may  order  them  out  of  his  shanty,  and,  if  they  do  not  go, 
kick  them  out,  and  then  marry  Jane  at  his  leisure.  Now, 
granting  John's  right  to  marry  Jane,  how  absurd  to  un- 
dertake to  punish  as  criminal  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jones  for 
performing  the  ceremony,  or  assisting  John  to  do  what 
he  has  a  perfect  right  to  do  ! 

And  precisely  so,  if  John  has  a  right  to  swallow  alco- 
hol, how  absurd  to  treat  as  a  crime  the  helping  John  to 
do  what  he  has  a  perfect  right  to  do  !  If  the  principal 
in  any  transaction  is  guilty  of  a  crime,  the  accomplices 
4 


52  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

are  guilty  of  a  crime.  But  if  the  principal  is  guiltless  of 
crime,  then  the  accomplices  are  guiltless. 

In  a  recent  public  discussion  upon  prohibition,  my  op- 
ponent said,  — 

"  The  sale  of  rum  is  the  source  of  nearly  all  our  crimes. 
Eminent  judges  in  Great  Britain  and  America  declare 
that  nine  tenths  of  all  crimes  come  of  strong  drink.  Think 
of  it,  ladies  and  gentlemen  !  nine  tenths  of  all  crimes 
originate  in  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks,  and  yet  my 
antagonist  says  we  must  be  easy  with  rum-sellers,  that 
they  are  a  good  sort  of  fellows,  and  have  just  as  good 
rights  as  other  folks.  While  we  know  that  their  damna- 
ble traffic  crowds  our  poorhouses,  jails,  and  state  prisons, 
we  are  told  by  my  antagonist  that  these  creatures  have 
just  the  same  rights  as  those  of  our  fellow-citizens  who 
are  engaged  in  the  most  honorable  and  useful  business. 
I  should  like  to  ask  my  antagonist  whether  he  thinks  that 
thieves,  who  are  not  guilty  of  one  hundredth  part  of  the 
harm  done  by  rum-sellers,  have  the  same  rights  as  our 
most  valued  citizens.  Suppose,  in  Main  Street,  one  man 
sets  up  a  den  for  the  sale  of  whiskey,  and  another  man 
sets  up  a  den  of  thieves.  The  whiskey-seller  makes  a 
dozen  thieves,  fifty  paupers,  twenty  wife-whippers,  one 
murderer,  sends  two  hundred  women  and  children  into 
the  street  broken-hearted,  and  costs  the  community  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  The  den  of  thieves  simply  steal  a 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  property,  and  there  is  not  a 
tear  or  heartache. 

"•Will  my  antagonist  be  kind  enough  to  tell  me  which 
of  these  dens  deserves  the  severest  punishment  ?  I  wait 
for  him  to  answer  !  " 

I  replied,  "  The  question  is  a  fair  one,  and  I  will  an- 
swer it  without -the  slightest  evasion  or  reserve.  And 
first,  if  the  thieves  steal  only  from  sane  adults,  and  from 
these  with  their  entire  consent  and  by  their  solicitation, 


THE   TEMPERANCE   QUESTION.  53 

the  persoDS  from  whom  the  stealing  is  done  going  to  the 
den  of  thieves  and  asking  them  to  come  and  do  the  steal- 
ing, then  the  thieves  should  not  be  punished  at  all,  no 
matter  how  great  the  loss  may  be  to  the  persons  from 
whom  the  stealing  is  done.  And  precisely  the  same  rule 
applies  to  the  rum-seller. 

"  But  suppose  the  thieves  take  the  property  without  the 
consent  of  the  owner;  they  deserve  state  prison.  Or 
suppose  the  rum-seller  goes  out  into  the  street  and  seizes 
the  passer-by,  drags  him  into  his  den,  and,  binding  him, 
pours  the  drink  into  his  mouth  until  he  commits  a  mur- 
der. The  rum-seller  deserves  the  gallows,  and  he  would 
get  it,  too.  The  stoutest  advocate  of  free  rum  would 
not  give  a  shilling  to  save  him." 


IX. 

fTlEMPERANCE  orators  speak  of  rum-sellers  as  though 
JL  they  created  the  evils  of  intemperance.  They  de- 
clare, with  passionate  emphasis,  that  our  Berime,  vice, 
pauperism,  and  misery  come  from  those  "  hell-holes ;  " 
that  these  rum-sellers  are  the  scourges  of  the  race,  and 
must  be  driven  out. 

Now,  it  would  be  just  as  sensible  to  pour  out  this 
anathema  against  the  tumblers  from  which  the  intem- 
perate drink,  as  to  direct  it  against  the  men  who  place 
those  tumblers  on  the  counter. 

Drunkenness  does  not  come  from  groggeries  ;  it  takes 
its  rise  in  the  alcoholic  appetite,  joined  to  the  presence 
of  alcohol.  Alcohol  is  used  for  a  hundred  purposes,  and 


54  THE    TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

must  be  kept  in  great  quantities,  and  on  every  hand. 
You  must  shut  your  eyes  to  this  if  you  assume  that  men 
with  the  craving  cannot  procure  it. 

If  it  can  be  shown  (I  believe  the  contrary  to  be  true) 
that  open  grog-shops  lead  to  more  drink  than  private 
drinking  clubs  and  other  concealed  methods,  which  are 
always  introduced  when  any  determined  efforts  are  made 
to  close  groggeries  by  law,  then,  whatever  is  sold  in  open 
grog-shops,  more  than  would  be  drank  in  their  absence, 
may  be  justly  charged  to  the  account  of  the  open  shops. 
But,  as  the  history  of  intemperance  in  Maine  during  the 
last  thirty  years  clearly  shows,  that  to  drive  the  rum 
traffic  under  cover  is  not  to  cure  it,  or  to  lessen  it  even, 
so,  while  we  temperance  men  continue  to  loathe  the 
liquor  traffic,  there  is  no  doubt  that  we  have  attributed 
to  groggeries  an  importance  in  this  wretched  vice  which 
does  not  belong  to  them. 

A  man  who  should  reproach  the  clerks  in  the  banks 
with  producing  all  our  monetary  troubles,  would  talk 
even  better  sense  than  those  who  accuse  rum-sellors  of 
causing  all  the  evils  of  intemperance. 

The  essential  fact  is  the  existence  of  the  appetite. 
There  never  can  be  any  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  the 
means  of  its  gratification.  If  any  fault  is  to  be  found 
with  those  wjio  furnish  the  alcoholic  drinks,  it  would  be 
only  fair  to  divide  it  between  those  who  raise  the  grain, 
those  who  sell  it  to  distillers,  the  distillers  themselves, 
those  who  transport  it,  the  wholesaler,  the  jobber,  and, 
finally,  the  retailer.  To  find  fault  with  the  retailer,  and 
not  to  find  fault  with  the  wholesaler  or  the  distiller,  is  to 
find  fault  with  the  men  who  stand  in  front  and  hand  the 
poison  to  the  drinkers,  and  to  say  nothing  of  the  ranks 
of  men  behind,  who  are  passing  the  poison  to  the  front 
rank.  But  to  lay  any  special  blame  upon  either  of  these 
ranks  of  men,  is  very  short-sighted  ;  for  the  primary  cause 


THE   TEMPERANCE   QUESTION.  55 

of  all  the  trouble  is,  as  I  have  said,  the  presence  of  a 
morbid  craving  for  alcohol.  It  is  impossible  to  prevent 
the  thirsty  man's  finding  it. 

Some  one  will  cry  out  at  this  point,  "  Then  what  are 
you  going  to  do  about  it  ?  Here  is  all  this  dreadful 
crime  and  wretchedness.  Are  you  going  to  do  nothing 
to  arrest  it  ?  "  Within  a  year  a  hundred  ministers  —  pro- 
fessed followers  of  that  Christ  who  came  into  the  world 
to  save  men  by  divine  love  —  have  said  to  me,  — 

"  If  you  can't  stop  this  thing  by  law,  then  what  can 
you  do  ?  "  I  say  to  them,  when  I  can  command  sufficient 
patience  to  speak  civilly,  — 

"  The  Washingtonian  Movement  and  the  Woman's  Cru- 
sade suggest  the  existence  among  us  of  a  power  which  is 
fully  competent  to  the  cure  of  all  these  evils  ;  "  and  I  some- 
times ask  them  if  they  have  ever  heard  of  Christ. 

Millions  of  professed  Christians,  and  among  them  thou- 
sands of  Christian  ministers,  believe  in  Christ  as  the 
author  of  a  system  of  theology,  but  they  do  not  believe 
in  Him  as  the  source  of  a  divine  force  which  lifts  men 
into  a  new  spirit  and  a  new  life. 


x. 


WHEN  we  urge  that  personal  liberty  is  the  great,  vital, 
pivotal  fact  of  human  life,  that  all  progress  and  hap- 
piness begin  and  end  in  personal  freedom,  prohibitionists 
say,— 

"  We  recognize  the  supreme  importance  of  personal 
liberty  as  much  as  you  do,  and  we  are  willing  that  all 
men  should  be  free,  if  they  will  only  do  what  is  best  for 


56  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

them.  We  rejoice,"  say  they,  "  in  the  utmost  liberty  of 
opinion  and  action,  if  the  people  will,  only  say  and  do 
what  is  right !  " 

The  Inquisition  believed  in  the  perfect  liberty  of  all 
men  to  be  Catholics,  but  if  they  caught  a  man  with  other 
notions  about  salvation,  they  put  a  thumb-screw  on  him. 

Our  Puritan  fathers  believed  in  personal  freedom, 
as  no  other  men  ever  did.  They  left  their  homes, 
crossed  a  stormy  ocean,  and  braved  a  thousand  dangers, 
that  they  might  be  free  to  think  and  say  what  they 
pleased.  And  they  were  perfectly  willing  that  all  who- 
came  along  with  them  might  think  and  say  what  they 
pleased,  unless,  as  sometimes  unfortunately  happened, 
the  other  men  thought  and  said  things  which  conflicted 
with  the  things  which  the  fathers  thought  and  said.  They 
sometimes  came  across  a  Quaker,  whose  views  did  not 
seem  quite  the  thing,  and  they  hung  him. 

Our  New  England  fathers  believed  in  religious  liberty. 
Indeed  "  religious  liberty  "  was  their  constant  boast;  but 
if  a  man  did  not  believe  in  hell,  they  would  not  let  him 
testify  in  court.  No  matter  what  wrong  other  people 
might  commit  upon  the  person  or  the  property  of  a  Uni- 
versalist, —  he  had  no  redress,  he  could  not  appear  against 
them.  He  was  in  the  condition  of  a  southern  slave. 
This  is  one  of  the  greatest  possible  outrages  upon  the 
dignity  and  rights  of  a  man.  But  our  fathers  were 
always  very  kind  about  it;  they  said  he  was  at  lib- 
erty, perfect  liberty,  at  any  time,  to  believe  in  hell,  and 
then  he  might  swear  a  blue  streak. 

There  used  to  be  a  law  here  in  Massachusetts  against 
preaching  infidelity,  and  another  against  any  disrespect- 
ful words  of  Jesus  Christ,  another  against  travelling  on 
Sunday,  another  against  smoking  in  the  streets,  another 
against  playing  cards,  another  against  usury,  &c.,  &c. ; 
and  now  we  have  had  one  for  twenty  years  against  the 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  57 

sale  of  intoxicating  liquors*.  The  most  of  these  laws 
have  been  repealed;  the  rest  of  them  are  stone  dead. 
Such  offences  belong  to  vices,  and  cannot  be  cured  by 
law. 

As  the  men  of  ideas  and  progress  clamor  for  the  repeal 
of  such  laws,  each  law,  in  its  turn,  is  clung  to  with  great 
tenacity. 

I  have  no  doubt  the  conservatives  were  honest  when 
they  foretold  all  sorts  of  ruin  to  follow  the  abolition  of 
the  usury  laws.  But  at  length  the  people  had  the  sense 
to  see  that  when  two  men  sit  down  together  to  make  a 
bargain  about  the  lending  of  money,  they  are  exercising 
a  natural  right,  with  which  no  man,  or  body  of  men,  has 
any  right  to  interfere. 

And  exactly  so  we  have  had  a  prohibitory  liquor  law 
for  twenty  years,  and  now  the  people  have  concluded 
that  when  two  men  meet  and  make  a  bargain  about  the 
sale  of  a  glass  of  rum,  they  are  exercising  a  natural 
right,  with  which  no  man,  or  body  of  men,  on  earth  has 
any  right  to  interfere  by  force  or  law. 

I  need  hardly  repeat  in  this  place,  that  if  in  any  of 
these  business  transactions  one  party  is  twn  compos  men- 
tis, or  there  is  fraud,  then  there  may  be  crime. 

The  meaning  of  the  recent  repudiations  of  the  prohibi- 
tory liquor  law  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  same  repudiation 
which  is  soon  to  follow  in  Maine,  is  not  that  the  voters 
are  less  temperance  men,  or  that  they  are  anxious  to  con- 
tinue the  crime  and  pauperism,  or  pay  the  enormous 
taxes  which  confessedly  spring  from  drink,  but  it  simply 
means,  as  in  repudiating  scores  of  other  laws  in  New 
England,  directed  against  vices,  that  the  people  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  law  is  not  the  medicine  for 
this  patient. 

Personal  liberty  is  not  only  the  source  of  all  progress, 
the  lever  of  all  conquests,  the  inspiration  of  all  achieve- 


58  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

ments,  but  it  is  at  the  same  time  the  source  of  many 
vices.  If  you  could  only  chain  a  man  to  the  floor,  and 
lock  the  door,  and  then  take  him  such  food  and  drink  as 
you  thought  best  for  him,  he  would  be  guilty  of  no 
excesses  of  appetite.  In  this  way  you  could  prevent 
many  of  the  vices  which  are  now  so  common  and  de- 
structive among  men.  But  if  you  let  a  man  go  free'J  he 
will  be  almost  sure  to  get  into  mischief.  Nothing  is  so 
expensive  and  troublesome  as  liberty.  Look  about  you. 
You  can  hardly  find  an  adult  who  is  not  guilty  of  vices. 
If  no  one  was  free,  many  of  these  vices  would  be  avoided. 

But  the  prize,  the  precious  jewel  of  the  ages,  is  per- 
sonal liberty.  It  has  no  equivalents.  Untold  wealth,  a 
mine  of  diamonds,  a  palace,  are  baubles  by  the  side  of 
personal  liberty.  The  measure  of  freedom  of  the  indi- 
vidual is  everywhere  the  measure  of  the  liberty  of 
society. 

Whenever  in  this  country  personal  liberty  is  tre'nched 
upon,  except  in  the  presence  of  a  great  and  immediate 
danger,  the  intruder,  if  a  person,  is  sure  to  receive  rough 
treatment ;  if  a  law,  it  is  sure  to  be  dodged  or  defied. 

All  trespasses  upon  personal  liberty  are  defended  on 
the  ground  that  the  interference  is  for  the  good  of  the 
man  or  men  whose  rights  are  violated.  I  do  not  suppose 
that  the  greatest  tyrant  in  history  ever  violated  the  peo- 
ple's rights  without  such  a  pretence. 

You  must  defend  where  the  attack  is  made.  If  the 
government  attack  my  right  to  drink  rum,  I  must  defend 
that  right,  and  not  my  right  to  chew  tobacco.  If  the 
government  attack  my  right  to  preach  Universalism,  I 
must  defend  that  right,  and  not  my  wife's  right  to  wear 
corsets. 

So  I  do  not  blame  the  Germans  for  rising  in  arms 
in  defence  of  their  right  to  drink  lager  beer.  If  the 
attack  were  upon  their  right  to  kiss  their  children,  it 


THE   TEMPERANCE   QUESTION.  59 

would  be  a  more  grateful  task  to  defend  liberty ;  but  they 
must  repel  the  assault  where  it  is  nude. 

When  1  look  at  their  enormous  stomachs,  red,  bloated 
faces,  and  dull  eyes,  I  wonder  that  they  can  soak  them- 
selves in  such  poisonous  stuff;  but  I  should  wonder  still 
more  if  such  a  brave  people  did  not  defend  their  right 
to  drink  it. 

I  was  delivering  some  lectures  on  temperance,  in  Lin- 
coln Hall,  in  the  city  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  last  spring 
(1874),  and  at  the  close  of  an  address  against  Prohibition, 
I  noticed  that  several  well-known  congressmen  present 
were  whispering  in  a  manner  suggestive  of  disapproba- 
tion, and  observing  the  distinguished  Judge  Lawrence, 
of  Ohio,  among  them,  I  ventured  to  say  to  him,  — 

"  Judge  Lawrence,  if  you  disapprove  of  what  I  have 
been  saying,  will  you  come  on  the  platform  and  defend 
Prohibition  ? "  Rising,  the  judge  said,  "  I  will,"  and 
came  up.  He  immediately  said,  in  a  very  warm  spirit,  — 

"  If  a  man  give  my  son  strong  drink  until  his  body 
goes  staggering  in  shame,  and  his  soul  goes  shrieking 
into  eternity  in  delirium  tremens,  that  man  has  committed 
a  crime  a  thousand- fold  worse  than  to  have  stolen  my 
horse,  and  should,  if  it  were  possible,  receive  a  thou- 
sand-fold severer  punishment." 

I  interrupted-  him. 

"  Judge,  after  having  spoken  two  hours,  it  is  most 
ungracious  in  me  .to  interrupt  you,  when  you  have  spoken 
but  two  minutes ;  but  if  you  will  pardon  a  single  state- 
ment in  connection  with  that  which  has  just  fallen  from 
your  lips. 

"  If  that  man  comes  into  your  house,  seizes  your  son, 
ties  him  hand  and  foot,  and  then,  forcing  open  his  mouth, 
pours  into  it  the  poison  which  produces  these  terrible 
consequences,  I  quite  agree  with  you  that  he  has  com- 
mitted a  crime  a  thousand  times  graver  than  to  have 


60  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

stolen  your  horse,  and  deserves  a  thousand-fold  severer 
punishment ;  but  while  your  son  is  compos  mentis,  while 
he  is  at  liberty  to  go  about  with  all  the  rights  of  a  man, 
and  he  goes  to  the  rum-seller  and  buys  a  glass  of  whiskey, 
if  you  say  that  act  of  sale  is  a  crime  at  all,  in  the  sense 
that  stealing  a  horse  is  a  crime,  then  you  cannot  under- 
stand how  it  is  that  in  Boston  —  the  most  law-abiding 
large  city  in  the  world  —  we  have  one  law  which  is  the 
subject  of  ridicule  and  contempt." 

It  is  a  legal  axiom  that  "  to.  the  willing  there  is  no 
offence."  This  is  but  a  logical  corollary  of  the  doctrine 
of  personal  liberty.  Of  ten  glasses  of  strong  drink,  nine 
are  drank  by  men  who  have  just  as  good  a  right  to  drink 
whiskey  as  I  have  to  drink  coffee.  I  may  think  rum  is 
bad  for  them,  as  they  may  think  coffee  is  bad  for  me  ;  but 
both  of  us  must  have  the  liberty  of  choice.  A  large  part 
of  the  life  of  an  average  man  is  made  up  of  blunders. 
The  whole  world  is  at  liberty  to  reason,  exhort,  and 
plead  with  him,  but  if  we  shout  at  him,  "  You  shall  not,", 
he  either  defies  us  and  goes  on  his  own  way,  or  if  we 
contrive  to  take  away  from  him  his  personal  freedom, 
his  right  of  choice,  he  is  no  longer  a  free  man,  but  a 
slave. 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  61 


XL 

"  T7"OU  admit,"  says  the  prohibitionist,  "  that  the  rum- 

JL  seller  may  be  punished  for  selling  to  persons  who 
are  non  compos  mentis.  Now,  that  is  exactly  what  he 
does  when  he  sells  to  a  man  who  can't  control  his  appe- 
tite. 

"  Is  a  man  compos  mentis  who  drinks  too  much  rum  ?  If 
such  a  law  were  enforced,  it  would  be  all  we  should  ask. 
That  would  stop  ninety-nine  hundredths  of  the  drunken- 
ness." 

A  sale  to  a  child,  to  an  insane  person,  or  to  a  sot,  or  to 
a  person  who  is  dangerous  when  under  the  influence  of 
drink,  —  a  sale  to  any  of  these,  the  dealer  knowing  or 
having  good  reason  to  believe  him  to  be  what  he  is,  is 
clearly  criminal.  And,  in  addition  to  this  list,  it  is  a 
crime  to  sell  to  an  intoxicated  person.  In  brief,  if  a  man 
is  non  compos  mentis ,  it  is  a  crime  to  sell  him  strong 
drink.  •*• 

After  a  long  conversation  upon  this  subject  with  a  pro- 
hibitory friend,  I  urged  him  to  go  with  me,  one  stormy 
day,  to  a  large  saloon,  where  I  suppose  they  sell  five 
thousand  drinks  a  day.  For  two  hours  we  sat  near  the 
bar,  where  we  could  see  the-  faces  of  the  drinkers,  and 
hear  their  conversation.  I  requested  my  companion  to 
call  my  attention  to  the  first  person  who  appeared  to 
him  non  compos  mentis.  An  intoxicated  man  staggered 
in,  leaned  on  the  counter,  and  asked  for  a  drink. 

"  There,"  said  my  friend,  "  there's  one." 

"  You've  got  enough,"  was  the  bar- tender's  reply. 

We  came  away,  and  as  we  walked  along,  my  com- 
panion said, — 


62  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

11  But  that  is  a  first-class  place ;  and,  of  course,  we 
don't  find  the  evil  in  its  worst  form  there." 

"  That  is  not  a  first-class  place ;  it  is  a  medium  place. 
There  are  a  thousand  places  in  this  city  of  higher  grades 
than  that,  perhaps  a  thousand  which  might  be  classed 
with  this  one,  and  a  thousand  of  lower  grades." 

We  went  to  our  homes,  dressed  in  rough  suits,  and, 
going  down  into  North  Street,  sauntered  into  a  low  grog- 
gery,  in  a  cellar.  We  took  seats,  and  looked  on.  Our 
presence  excited  no  suspicions  ;  and  the  crowd  of  pros- 
titutes, low  sailors,  Portuguese,  and  negroes,  went  on 
with  their  drinking,  swearing,  bawdy  stories,  and  loud, 
coarse  laugh. 

My  friend  whispered  to  me,  — 

"  These  creatures  are  all  non  compos  mentis.  Certainly 
reasonable  beings  would  not  spend  their  time  in  this 
reeking  atmosphere,  going  on  in  this  horrid  drinking, 
profanity,  and  obscenity/' 

"  Let  us,"  I  replied,  "  proceed  to  try  one  of  them,  and 
see  if  you  will  decide  that  he  is  non  compos.  We  will 
not  take  either  of  those  three  or  four  drunken  ones  ;  for 
when  a  man  is  drunk,  he  is  clearly  non  compos.  But  let 
us  take  that  brutal  negro,  the  one  with  his  arm  about 
that  wretched  prostitute.  Do  you  say  that  that  fellow  is 
not  competent  to  make  a  will,  or  to  testify  in  court,  or 
transact  business,  or  to  vote?  Do  you  think  he  should 
be  shut  up,  or  put  under  guardianship,  or  in  any  way  re- 
strained on  the  ground  that  he  is  non  compos  mentis  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  notj"  replied  my  friend  ;  "  but  what  a 
wretched  business  it  is.  to  keep  such  a  den  as  this  ! 
What  possible  pood  does  such  a  business  do  ?  Do  you 
think  a  man  should  be  allowed  to  go  on  in  an  occupation 
which  is  evil,  and  only  evil  ?  which  does  not  do  one  par- 
ticle of  good,  but  a  great  deal  of  harm  ?  " 

My  reply  was,  "  It  is  a  horrid  business ;  one  that  you 


THE   TEMPERANCE   QUESTION.  63 

and  I  would  not  engage  in  to  save  ourselves  from  starva- 
tion. But,  you  see,  this  fellow  don't  feel  so.  I  think,  as 
you  do,  that  this  business  should  be  broken  up  at  once. 
I  cannot  say  just  how  it  should  be  done  ;  but  the  l  Wash- 
ingtonian  Movement '  and  the  '  Woman's  Crusade  '  are 
very  suggestive." 

"  But,"  exclaimed  my  friend,  returning  to  the  "  compos 
mentis"  business,  u  do  you  really  think  a  man  is  compos 
mentis  who  wastes  his  life  swallowing  this  miserable 
poison  ?  " 

My  reply  was,  "  If  you  ask  me  whether  the  crowd  of 
fashionable  people  who  waste  their  lives  in  bad  dress, 
bad  food,  bad  theatres,  and  in  idleness,  doing  no  good 
to  any  one,  but  a  great  deal  of  harm,  by  an  evil  example, 
and  in  many  other  ways,  are  reasonable  beings,  1  should 
say  that  their  lives  are  most  unreasonable  and  sinful ; 
but  they  are  not  non  compos  mentis,  in  the  legal  meaning 
of  that  phrase. 

"  If  you  ask  me  whether  a  glutton,  who  spends  his  life 
between  gout  and  torturing  his  family  with  his  wretched 
temper,  is  a  reasonable  being,  I  should  reply  that  he  is 
surely  most  unreasonable ;  but  he  is  not  non  compos  men- 
tis in  the  legal  sense.  If  you  were  to  raise  the  question 
on  such  grounds,  everybody  would  laugh  at  you. 

"  Indeed,  the  great  mass  of  men  so  waste  their  lives  in 
physical,  intellectual,  social,  moral,  and  religious  blunders 
or  vices,  that,  judged  by  any  high  standard,  they  are 
certainly  not  reasonable  beings  ;  but  ninety-nine  hun- 
dredths  of  them  are  compos  mentis,  judged  by  the  legal 
standard,  and  that  is  the  only  one  with  which  we  have 
any  business  in  this  discussion." 


64  THE  TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 


XII. 

MR.  (T.;  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and  honest  of  our 
prohibitionists,  holds  that  the  rights  of  the  govern- 
ment are  limited  only  by  its  power,  or  by  the  possibili- 
ties. This  is  consistent,  and  the  only  ground  on  which 
a  prohibitionist  can  stand.  Mr.  G.  is  fond  of  putting  it  in 
this  way :  — 

"The  government  is  bound  to  protect  the  citizen.  What- 
ever will  serve  the  people,  the  government  is  bound  to 
do.  And  the  government  is  just  as  much  bound  to  pro- 
tect the  citizen  against  his  own  ignorance  and  vice  as 
against  the  ignorance,  vice,  and  crime  of  others. 

"  In  other  words,  the  government  is  bound  to  con- 
tribute in  every  possible  way  to  the  welfare  of  the 
people. 

"  The  right  of  the  government  is  complete  and  unquali- 
fied, having  no  other  limit  than  the  possibility  of  service. 
Is  there  suffering  or  danger  from  any  source  whatever? 
The  duty  and  right  of  the  government  to  intervene  is 
unlimited.  The  only  question  which  can  be  raised  is 
one  of  power  or  possibility. 

"  The  government  has  a  perfect  rigid  to  control  the  re- 
ligious opinions  of  the  citizen  ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  do 
it,  and  therefore  the  government  ought  not  to  make  the 
attempt.  The  government  has  a  perfect  right  to  regu- 
late the  food  and  drinks  of  the  citizen  ;  but  it  is  impos- 
sible to  do  it,  and  therefore  the  attempt  would  be  inex- 
pedient. But  the  government  has  the  power  to  control 
the  sale  of  strong  drinks  ;  and,  therefore,  as  such  sale 
does  great  harm,  it  is  its  bounden  duty  to  stop  it." 

Mr.  G.  thinks  that  what  is  called  the  freedom  of  the 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  65 

press  is  a  violation  of  the  organic  rights  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

"  Of  course/'  he  says,  "  the  press  must  be  free,  perfectly 
free,  for  without  that  we  cannot  preserve  a  free  govern- 
ment ;  but  it  must  not  be  allowed  to  say  anything  which 
the  government  does  not  approve ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
press  is  at  liberty  to  utter  what  is  true  and  right.  It 
certainly  can  be  no  violation  of  liberty  to  prevent  a 
newspaper's  saying  what  is  wrong,  for  no  decent  man 
can  wish  to  say  or  do  wrong.  And  as  this  is  a  case 
where  the  government  can  successfully  interfere,  it  is  its 
duty  to  act. 

"  Therefore,  if,  in  its  judgment,  a  paper  publishes  any- 
thing prejudicial  to  society,  it  is  its  duty  to  stop  it." 

Here,  for  example,  is  a  newspaper,  which  is  from  day 
to  'day  charging  the  government  with  corruption,  and 
throwing  all  sorts  of  impediments  in  the  pathway  of  the 
government,  while  it  is  trying  to  save  the  country.  Can 
a  case  be  conceived  where  the  duty  of  interference  is 
more  urgent?  We  have  just  passed  through  a  terrible 
struggle.  The  country  barely  escaped  with  its  life,  and 
even  now  we  are  not  safe.  If  the  administration  could 
only  have  its  way  undisturbed  for  a  few  years,  it  would 
gather  the  fruits  of  its  victory,  and  make  all  safe.  But 
the  other  party,  by  their  treasonable  newspapers  and 
their  still  more  treasonable  voting,  is  keeping  every 
threatening  question  open,  and  leaving  us  in  painful 
doubt  whether  the  government  cemented  by  the  blood 
of  our  fathers,  and  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  their  sons, 
shall  not,  after  all,  be  lost. 

Then,  in  Heaven's  name,  why  not  stop  such  voting  and 
newspapers  ?  No  other  case  can  be  named  so  impera- 
tively demanding  the  interference  of  the  government. 

Recall,  if  you  have  the  nerve  to  do  it,  the  dark  days 
of  the  great  rebellion.  Think  of  the  slaughter,  the  rivers 


66  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

of  blood,  think  of  the  mourning  and  agony,  and  then 
think  of  the  newspapers  that  decried  and  condemned 
every  effort  to  save  the  country  ! 

Ah,  if  our  prohibitionists  could  have  been  in  authority 
then,  all  this  would  have  been  stopped  at  once.  Not  a 
word  of  criticism  would  have  been  permitted.  Or,  if 
they  were  in  authority  to-day,  all  this  meddlesome  criti- 
cism of  the  plans  of  the  administration  would  at  once  be 
arrested. 

I  have  said  all  this  from  the  stand-point  of  the  pro- 
hibitionist. Not  a  word  of  it  do  I  believe.  Whenever 
the  government  undertakes  to  punish  a  man  for  any  other 
offence  than  a  crime,  it  makes  a  miserable  failure.  No 
matter.whether  it  is  a  rum-seller,  a  usurist,  or  an  in6del, 
or  a  treasonable  newspaper ;  it  only  gives  dignity  and 
importance  to  the  offender,  by  placing  him  at  issue  with 
the  government.  Religious,  social,  or  political  opinions, 
which  are  of  no  consequence,  are  lifted  at  once  into  great 
importance  by  an  arrest  and  trial. 

If  it  is  said  that  arresting  a  man  for  theft  gives  him 
importance,  by  placing  him  at  issue  with  the  government, 
I  can  only  reply  that  arresting  a  man  for  theft  disgraces 
him  for  a  lifetime.  To  be  arrested  for  a-  crime  is  a  dis- 
grace, and  always  a  disgrace.  Of  course  I  mean  real 
crimes,  where  one  ma.n,  with  evil  intent,  commits  an  act 
upon  the  person  or  property  of  another,  without  his  con- 
sent. No  man  can  be  arrested  for  a  real  crime  without 
being  disgraced,  no  matter  how  slight  it  may  be.  The 
disgrace  all  comes  of  public  sentiment.  If  the  public  re- 
gards the  offence  as  a  real  crime,  the  arrest  and  punish- 
ment only  add  to  the  disgrace  of  the  crime  by  calling 
special  attention  to  it. 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  67 


XIII. 

OTHER  LAWS  SUPPOSED  TO  RESEMBLE  THE  PROHIBITORY 
LAW.  —  The  most  common  method  of  defending  Pro- 
hibition is  to  bring  forward  certain  other  laws,  which,  it 
is  claimed>  are  like  the  prohibitory  law  in  principle,  and 
which  are  unquestioned. 

The  law  against  the  sale  of  tainted  meat  is  frequently 
quoted.  But  are  the  two  laws  similar?  What  is  the 
basis  of  the  law  against  the  sale  of  tainted  meats  ?  When 
the  meat  is  in  the  first  stages  of  decomposition,  it 
requires  an  expert  to  determine  that  it  is  dangerous,  and 
the  law  justly  steps  in  to  protect  the  people  against  the 
danger.  But  suppose,  as  is  the  case  with  many  epicures, 
that  meat  is  preferred  when  so  soft  that  it  will  drop 
from  the  hook,  —  suppose  they  prefer  their  game  or  meat 
in  a  certain  stage  of  decomposition,  —  does  anybody  say 
that  they  shall  not  have  the  thing  they  prefer,  or  that  it 
would  be  a  crime  to  sell  it  to  them  ?  The  law  is  simply 
designed  to  protect  those  who  do  not  know  how  to  pro- 
tect themselves. 

The  law  against  the  sale  of  immature  veal  is  frequently 
adduced.  A  dealer  who  sells  veal  three  days  old,  under 
pretence  that  it  is  three  weeks,  should  be  punished  for 
fraud ;  and  as  it  requires  an  expert  to  determine  when 
veal  is  old  enough  to  be  healthful,  the  law  justly  steps  in 
to  examine  the  veal  exposed  for  sale,  and  to  punish 
fraud.  But  let  us  suppose  the  doctors  wrere  to  announce 
that  veal  three  days  old  was  healthful,  or  that  a  part  of 
the  people,  for  reasons  of  their  own,  ask  for  such  veal ; 
does  anybody  suppose  that  the  sale  of  it  to  such  persons 
would  be  criminal  ? 
5 


68  THE    TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

The  law  against  the  sale  of  adulterated  foods  is  fre- 
quently brought  forward.  All  adulterations  are  justly 
punished.  But  is  this  law  the  same  in  principle  as  a  law 
which  prohibits  the  sale  of  all  foods  ?  There  is  no  doubt 
about  the  justice  of  a  law  which  punishes  the  sale  of 
adulterated  liquors ;  but  that  is  a  widely  different  thing 
in  principle  from  a  law  which  forbids  the  sale  of  all 
liquors.  Laws  of  this  class  are  based  upon  the  idea  of 
protecting  the  ignorant  or  unwary  from  fraud  or  imme- 
diate danger.  And  so  far  as  they  aim  at  this,  they  are 
just,  and  can  be  enforced.  But  a  law  which  undertakes 
to  prevent  a  sane  adult  from  buying  anything  which  he 
may  choose  to  eat  or  drink,  knowing  what  it  is,  is  unjust, 
and  in  the  long  run  cannot  be  enforced.  And  a  law 
which  undertakes  to  punish  the  sale  of  anything  which 
sane  men,  with  a  chance  to  judge,  wish  to  buy,  is  unjust, 
and  cannot  be  enforced. 

I  know  a  gentleman  in  this  city  who  always  brings 
forward  the  law  regulating  the  sale  of  drugs,  as  illustrat- 
ing the  principle  of  prohibition.  He  puts  it  in  this 
way :  — 

"  The  law  forbids  the  sale  of  drugs,  except  to  physi- 
cians, or  upon  their  prescriptions.  The  law  forbids  the 
sale  to  other  persons,  because  the  legislature,  in  its  wis- 
dom, has  decided  that  such  sale  is  harmful.  And  the 
law  forbids  the  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks,  because  the 
legislature,  in  its  wisdom,  has  decided  that  such  sale  is 
harmful.  Now,  if  the  law  against  the  sale  of  drugs  is 
just,  why  is  not  the  law  against  the  sale  of  intoxicating 
drinks  just?  The  sale  of  the  drinks  does  a  thousand 
times  as  much  harm  as  the  sale  of  the  drugs." 

That  looks  plausible,  but  it  is  the  shallowest  sophistry. 

The  reason  that  the  law  may  justly  punish  the  sale  of 
dangerous  drugs  to  uniristructed  persons  is  simply  and 
only  that  such  persons  do  not  know,  and  have  no  means 


THE' TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  69 

of  knowing,  their  danger.  But  if  there  is  a  reasonable 
probability  that  the  people  are  not  in  immediate  danger, 
the  law  does  not  interfere.  For  example,  there  are 
five  dollars'  worth  of  patent  medicines  sold  in  the  country 
to  one  dollar's  worth  of  medicines  in  other  forms,  and 
although  these  patent  medicines  are  composed  of  drugs, 
and  are,  for  the  most  part,  the  vilest  stuffs  ever  swallowe'd, 
put  up  by  ignorant  quacks,  yet  there  is  no  great  and 
immediate  danger,  and  the  legislature  concludes  that  it 
is  safe  to  let  the  people  find  out  the  harmful  character 
of  the  stuffs  themselves  j  and  so  there  is  no  interference, 
although  more  harm  is  done  in  one  year  by  patent  medi- 
cines, than  would  be  done  by  the  unrestricted  sale  of 
drugs  in  a  century.  In  the  case  of  that  vile  swill  known 
as  lager  beer,  there  is  no  great  and  immediate  danger ; 
so  the  people  should  be  left  to  find  out  about  it  them- 
selves. If  there  was  danger  that  when  lager  beer  was 
taken  in  doses  of  more  than  a  certain  number  of  drops, 
or  that  certain  kinds  of  lager  beer,  or  that  that  fluid  in 
certain  states  was  immediately  dangerous  to  life,  then  a 
law  against  the  sale  of  it,  except  under  the  prescription 
of  experts,  would  be  just.  But  as  there  is  no  immediate 
danger  in  the  use  of  lage*,  as  there  is  a  reasonable  prob- 
ability that  drinkers  will  have  time  to-  determine  for 
themselves  the  safet}7  of  the  drink,  the  entire  human  race, 
sitting  as  a  government,  have  no  right  to  say  to  one 
single  drinker,  "  You  shall  not  buy  it  I "  or  "  You  shall  not 
drink  it ! "  If  the  drinker  be  compos  mentis,  in  the  legal 
sense,  he  has  the  absolute  right,  against  the  combined 
world,  to  determine  what  he  will  eat  and  what  he  will 
drink.  If  lie  has  not  the  right  to  decide  this  question  for 
himself,  then  no  other  man  on  earth  has  the  right. 

There  is  but  one  possible  limit  to  this  personal  liberty, 
and  that  is  where  a  king  rules  by  Divine  Right.  In  this 
case,  the  right  of  the  subject  to  think  his  own  thoughts, 


70  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

cherish  his  own  religion,  eat  his  own  food,  swallow  his 
own  drinks,  and  kiss  his  own  wife,  would  be  rightly 
subject  to  the  will  of  the  government. 

But  perhaps  the  law  against  the  sale  of  obscene  litera- 
ture is  the  favorite  illustration.  In  a  recent  convention, 
it  was  put  in  this  way  :  — 

"  Certain  persons  engage  in  the  sale  of  obscene  books. 
The  government  decides  that  such  sale  does  great  public 
harm,  and  passes  a  law  against  it.  Every  decent  citizen 
approves. 

"  Certain  other  persons  engage  in  the  sale  of  intoxicat- 
ing drinks.  The  government  decides  that  the  business 
does  great  public  harm,  and  they  pass  a  law  against  it. 
Every  sober  citizen  approves." 

This  seems  very  plausible,  but  it  is  shallow  sophistry. 
The  law  recently  passed  by  Congress  against  the,  circu- 
lation of  obscene  literature  through  the  mails  is  just. 
If  I  had  been  a  member  of  Congress  when  that  law  was 
passed,  I  should  have  voted  for  it,  and  should  have  urged 
that  the  penalty  be  made  very  severe. 

But  last  year  I  had  occasion  to  look  up  books  on 
sexual  subjects.  I  picked  up  all  sorts,  good  and  bad.  I 
take  it  that  the  persons  who  oeld  me  such  books  com- 
mitted no  crime,  and  that  if  they  sold  them  to  any  sane 
adult  it  would  not  be  criminal ;  but  it  is  a  lamentable 
fact  that  forty-nine  fiftieths  of  such  books  and  pictures 
are  sold  to  children.  That  is  a  crime,  a  very  grave  crime, 
as  it  is  to  sell  them  intoxicating  drinks. 

Those  who  read  that  powerful  speech  of  the  Hon.  C.  L. 
Merriam,  of  New  York,  on  the  occasion  of  introducing 
the  bill  against  obscene  literature  into  Congress,  will 
remember  that  the  necessity  and  justice  of  the  law  were 
placed  upon  the  ground  that  the  bad  books  and  pictures 
were  sold  almost  exclusively  to  children. 

I  have  a  prohibitory  friend  of  a  rather  explosive  tern- 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  71 

perament,  whose  favorite  illustration  is  the  law  which 
regulates  the  keeping  and  sale  of  gunpowder. 

He  says,  "  There  is  a  law  against  keeping  and  selling 
gunpowder.  Everybody  admits  its  justice.  And  why? 
Because  it  may  do  harm.  If  this  is  just,  then  what  do 
you  say  to  the  law  which  forbids  the  keeping  and  sale 
of  strong  drinks,  which  do  a  million  times  more  harm 
than  gunpowder." 

Let  us  see  if  there  is  the  slightest  essential  similarity 
between  the  law  against  gunpowder  and  the  law  against 
rum.  Ten  men  go  into  a  store.  The  dealer  keeps  a 
barrel  of  gunpowder  under  his  floor,  which,  without  their 
knowledge  or  consent,  and  entirely  through  his  careless- 
ness, may  blow  them  into  eternity.  The  law  justly  steps 
in  to  prevent  a  terrible  calamity.  Do  you  think  this 
case  is  like  the  following  case  ?  — 

The  ten  men  go  into  a  rum- shop.  They  have  just  as 
good  right  to  drink  rum  as  you  and  I  have  to  drink 
tea.  You  and  I  may  think  that  rum  is  bad  for  them ; 
they  may  think  that  tea  is  bad  for  us.  Both  of  us 
have  a  right,  an  inalienable  right,  to  choose.  We  will 
suppose  these  ten  men  go  into  the  rum-shop  to  purchase 
ale.  There  sits,  not  a  barrel  of  gunpowder,  but  a  barrel 
of  ale.  The  men  know  all  about  ale.  It  is  the  thing  they 
wish.  They  wish  to  drink  it.  They  take  the  entire  re- 
sponsibility. If  ale  is  hurtful,  there  is  plenty  of  time  for 
them  to  find  it  out,  as  in  the  cases  of  pork,  tobacco,  and 
corsets  ;  and  so  there  is  no  necessity  for  protecting  them 
against  a  great  and  immediate  danger. 

If  there  was  danger  that,  as  people  walked  along  the 
street  or  went  into  a  store,  strong  drink  would  burst  out 
of  bottles,  and  force  its  way  into  their  stomachs,  produ- 
cing rags,  poverty,  disease,  and  death,  the  legislature 
should  interfere  and  forbid  the  traffic  in  strong  drink. 

If  rich  foods  were  liable  to  burst  loose  from  their  en- 


72  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

closures,  and  be  hurled  into  human  stomachs,  producing 
fevers,  rheumatism,  and  a  hundred  other  affections,  it 
would  be  the  bounden  duty  of  the  legislature  to  forbid 
their  preparation  and  sale. 

But  if  people  who  are  compos  mentis  wish  the  strong 
drink  or  strong  food,  and  there  is  no  great  and  immedi- 
ate danger  against  which  they  are  not  able  to  guard, 
legislative  interference  is  an  impertinence  and  a  blunder. 

Do  you  not  see  that  the  element  which  calls  for  and 
justifies  the  legal  interference  in  the  case  of  the  gun- 
powder is  entirely  wanting  in  the  case  of  the  ale  ?  At 
the  vital  point  there  is  not  the  slightest  resemblance  be- 
tween them.  And  yet  prohibitionists  are,  some  of  them, 
so  loose-headed,  that,  because  there  are  men,  and  a  sale, 
and  harm  in  both,  they  imagine  the  two  cases  are  parallel. 

They  reason  in  this  way :  — 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  legislature  to  watch  over  and  pro- 
tect the  people. 

The  legislature  makes  a  law  against  gunpowder,  be- 
cause it  may  do  great  harm. 

Alcohol  not  only  may,  but  we  know  actually  does,  in- 
finitely greater  harm  than  gunpowder.  Ergo,  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  legislature  to  pass  a  law  against  the  sale  of 
alcoholic  beverages. 

Let  us  see  whether  they  will  follow  that  logic. 

Gunpowder  is  forbidden  because  it  may  do  harm.  To- 
bacco does  a  million  times  more  harm  than  gunpowder. 
Ergo,  tobacco  should  be  forbidden.  Nothing  could  be 
clearer.  There  are  twenty  vices  which  nobody  supposes 
could  be  treated  by  law,  any  one  of  which  does  a  thou- 
sand times  as  much  harm  as  gunpowder.  Then  why  not 
pass  a  law  against  tobacco  and  all  the  other  vices  ? 

For  one  instance  of  accidental  gunpowder  explosion, 
there  are  ten  thousand  cases  of  false  religious  faith. 
What  can  be  more  harmful  than  false  notions  of  God  and 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  73 

His  government?  Then  why  not  punish  false  religions 
notions  ?  Was  not  the  Inquisition  right,  after  all,  when 
it  declared  that  in  nothing  was  the  guidance  of  the  gov- 
ernment so  vital  as  in  matters  of  religious  faith  ?  Does 
anybody  doubt  that  errors  in  religious  faith  do  more 
harm  than  carelessness  in  the  keeping  of  "gunpowder? 

Then  why  not  legislate  against  all  these  vices  ? 

For  the  simple  reason  that  at  the  essential  point  there 
is  no  resemblance  between  them.  The  one  and  only 
fact  which  renders  the  law  necessary  in  the  case  of 
the  gunpowder,  is  not  present  in  the  smallest  degree  in 
the  other  case.  It  would  be  just  as  logical  to  say  that 
theft  is  harmful,  we  punish  it ;  indolence  is  more  harmful, 
and  leads  to  almost  all  the  cases  of  theft ;  ergo,  we  must 
punish  that. 

If  people  will  tamper  with  law,  they  must  take  the 
trouble  to  do  a  little  thinking. 

The  laws  against  the  sale  of  tainted  meat,  immature 
veal,  adulterated  foods,  dangerous  drugs,  and  gunpowder, 
are  all  based  upon  the  presence  of  fraud,  or  of  a  great 
and  immediate  danger,  which  the  people  cannot  foresee, 
and  against  which  they  have  no  means  of  guarding.  It 
is  the  presence  of  fraud,  or  of  great  and  concealed  dan- 
ger, which  justifies  sumptuary  laws.  But  let  the  legis- 
lature undertake  to  interfere  with  our  food,  or  drink,  or 
dress,  or  any  personal  habit,  indulging  in  which,  we  are 
not  exposed  to  fraud,  or  great  and  unforeseen  danger, 
and  the  law,  no  matter  what  it  is,  or  against  how  great  a 
vice,  will,  like  the  usury  law  and  the  prohibitory  liquor 
law,  ignominiously  fail.  Of  the  thirty-odd  attempts  in 
Massachusetts  to  punish  vices  by  law,  where  there  was 
neither  fraud  nor  great  and  concealed  danger,  not  one 
has  escaped  contempt  and  complete  failure. 


74  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 


XIV. 

is  a  troad  distinction  between  moral  rights  and 
legal  rights.  A  man  has  no  moral  right  to  hate  his 
wife,  but  he  has  a  perfect  legal  right  to  hate  her.  A  man 
has  no  moral  right  to  foreclose  a  mortgage  upon  a  sick 
•widow's  home,  and  turn  her  and  her  children  out  into 
the  snow ;  but  he  has  a  perfect  legal  right  to  do  it.  A 
man  has  no  moral  right  to  make  a  glutton  of  himself,  and 
destroy  his  usefulness,  and  throw  his  wife  and  children 
on  the  town ;  but  he  has  a  perfect  legal  right  to  do  it. 
A  man  has  no  moral  right  to  drink  rum,  but  he  has  a  per- 
fect legal  right  to  do  it. 

I  have  never  heard  an  advocate  of  prohibitory  law 
make  this  distinction  between  moral  and  legal  rights. 
They  seem  to  think  that  all  rights  are  alike,  and  that  all 
wrongs  may  be  cured  by  the  same  means. 

In  a  public  discussion  with  a  prohibitionist,  I  made  the 
statement  that  a  man  has  the  same  right  to  do  wrong  that 
he  has  to  do  right,  always  provided  it  is  a  vice,  and  not  a 
crime. 

My  reader  will  find  it  difficult  to  believe  that,  when 
my  antagonist  rose,  he  said,  — 

"  At  last  we  have  found  out  where  my  opponent  stands. 
Yes,  Mr.  Chairman,  and  ladies  and  gentlemen,  he  has  at 
length  shown  his  hand.  He  declares  that  a  man  has  just 
the  same  right  to  do  wrong  as  he  has  to  do  right.  In 
other  words,  that  there  is  no  distinction  between  right 
and  wrong.  He  thinks  a  man  has  just  as  good  a  right  to 
drink  this  liquid  damnation,  and  ruin  himself,  and  break 
his  wife's  heart,  as  he  has  to  be  a  sober  man,  and  perform 
all  the  duties  of  life." 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  75 

Then,  turning  to  me,  the  speaker  exclaimed,  — 

"  Is  that  what  you  mean  ?  " 

I  replied,  "  That  is  exactly  what  I  said,  and  exactly 
what  I  mean  ! " 

He  went  on,  and  in  a  splendid  burst  of  eloquence, 
called  out  cheer  upon  cheer. 

When  I  spoke  again,  I  did  not  repeat  what  I  had  said 
before,  that  a  man  has  the  same  legal  right  to  do  wrong 
(unless  the  act  be  a  crime)  that  he  has  to  do  right.  I 
thought  I  would  wait  and  see  if  my  opponent  would  not 
think  it  out  himself,  and  so  I  introduced  another  point. 

When  his  turn  came  again,  he  cried  out, — 

"  At  last,  Mr.  Chairman  and  friends,  the  opponent  of 
our  beneficent  prohibitory  law  has  been  brought  to  bay  ; 
at  last  he  flies  to  cover.  I  admire  his  adroitness  in  in- 
troducing other  subjects,  and  trying  to  draw  our  atten- 
tion away  from  the  real  point  at  issue.  We,  the  friends 
of  prohibition,  believe  that  rum-selling  is  a  great  crime, 
and  that  we  must  punish  it  and  arrest  it.  But  it  seems 
we  are  all  wrong.  Our  code  of  morals  is  a  little  old- 
fashioned  ;  but  here  comes  a  great  reformer  with  a  new 
code.  It  certainly  has  the  virtue  of  being  simple.  It 
has  but  one  doctrine,  and  that  is,  that  there  is  no  distinc- 
tion between  right  and  wrong  ;  that,  as  he  himself  clearly 
and  tersely  puts  it,  t  A  man  has  just  as  good  a  right  to 
do  wrong  as  he  has  to  do  right.'  My  good  friend  may 
make  some  converts  to  his  new  religion ;  but  I  rather 
think  that,  while  we  have  copies  of  a  certain  old-fashioned 
book  among  us,  my  antagonist  will  find  it  a  little  difficult 
to  make  converts  to  his  new  system." 

Absurd  as  all  this  may  seem  to  the  reader,  it  occurred 
just  as  I  have  represented,  and  I  may  add  that  I  have 
never  discussed  the  subject  of  prohibition  with  any  of 
its  advocates,  who  did  not  pass  backward  and  forward 
across  the  line  dividing  vices  from  crimes,  with  a  mar- 


76  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION^  OF 

vellous  unconsciousness  of  its  existence.  You  will  hear 
them  exclaim,  — 

"  Well,  then,  why  not  abolish  all  laws  for  the  punish- 
ment of  crime  ?  Rum-selling  does  more  harm  than  all  of 
them,  and  in  fact  leads  to  them  all." 

Or.  "  It  is  the  business  of  the  legislature  to  protect  the 
public  from  harm,  and  this  is  the  greatest  of  all  harms." 

There  are  about  half  a  dozen  common  statements  in 
vogue,  of  which  the  above  two  are  fair  samples.  At  one 
of  our  recent  discussions  both  the  above  statements  were 
made  with  great  emphasis.  As  the  first  of  these  is  fully 
answered  in  another  part  of  this  work,  I  may  add,  in  this 
connection,  that  in  reply  to  the  second  statement,  namely, 
"  that  it  is  the  function  of  the  legislature  to  protect  the 
people  against  harm,"  I  mentioned  in  the  discussion  sev- 
eral vices  which  no  one  proposes  to  punish,  any  one  of 
which  is  doing  more  harm  than  all  the  crimes  committed 
in  the  country.  I  said,  — 

"  Here  before  me  is  a  large  audience.  Not  a  person 
in  it  but  has  suffered  from  vices ;  indeed,  that  is  what  we 
mean  by  the  imperfection  of  human  nature.  When  we 
depart  from  perfection  it  is  a  vice.  Everybody  is  guilty 
of  vices.  The  people  in  this  audience,  forty  years  old, 
are  as  old  as  they  should  be  at  fifty,  or  perhaps  sixty. 
Their  teeth  are  decayed,  and  they  have  imperfect  diges- 
tion. They  do  not  enjoy  the  fu.ll  and  happy  play  of  all 
their  powers  and  faculties,  and  the  greater  part  of  all 
this  waste  comes  of  vices.  There  are  certain  secret  vices 
which  cannot  be  named  before  this  audience,  which  are 
doing  more  to  break  down  our  vital  force,  make  us  prema- 
turely old,  and  fetter  our  souls,  than  all  the  crimes  com- 
mitted in  the  country,  and  the  legislature  can  do  nothing 
to  cure  them. 

"  Tobacco  is  doing  more  injury  to  the  minds  and  bodies 
of  our  nation  than  all  the  murder,  and  theft,  and  bur- 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  77 

glary,  jand  arson  committed  in  it ;  and  the  legislature  can 
do  nothing  whatever  to  cure  the  tobacco  curse. 

"  Table  excesses  are  doing  a  thousand  times  more  to 
cripple  us,  make  us  prematurely  old,  and  darken  our 
pathway,  than  all  the  crimes  committed  in  the  country ; 
and  the  legislature  can  do  nothing  at  all  to  relieve  the 
people  of  the  vice  of  gluttony. 

"  Corsets  are  doing  more  harm  than  all  the  murder, 
and  theft,  and  arson,  and  burglary  in  the  land  j  and,  if 
the  legislature  were  to  devote  itself  for  ten  years  exclu-   . 
sively  to  devising  measures  to  remove  the  corset  curse, 
it  would  end  by  increasing  it. 

u  The  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  is  an  awful  curse,  and 
does  more  harm  every  year  than  any  wisdom  less  than 
the  Infinite  can  measure,  and,  like  all  the  other  vices  of 
which  I  have  spoken,  contributes  to  that  demoralization 
of  men  and  women  which  leads  to  crime,  but  it  is  entirely 
beyond  the  reach  of  law." 


XV. 

HENRY  D.  GUSHING,  ESQ.,  of  Boston,  an  intelligent  and 
conscientious  prohibitionist,  with  an  enviable  record 
among  the  friends  of  temperance  and  the  prohibition 
leaders,  has  greatly  interested  me  by  his  courteous  bear- 
ing and  his  philosophical  patience  with  all  differences 
of  opinion.  The  following  brief  correspondence  with 
that  excellent  gentleman  requires  no  explanation. 

"BOSTON,  Feb.  26,  1875.    j 

"  HENRY  D.  GUSHING,  ESQ. 

"  My  dear  Sir :  Our  conversation  of  this  morning 
about  prohibition  suggests  certain  inquiries. 

"  You  said  that  the  individual  citizen  has  no  rights 


78  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

which  the  government  is  bound  to  respect,  when  in  its 
judgment  the  rights  of  the  individual  stand  in  the  way 
of  the  welfare  of  the  community.  I  asked  you  if  you  did  . 
not  use  the  word  '  rights,'  when  applied  to  the  govern- 
ment, in  the  sense  of  power  —  if  you  did  not  mean 
simply  that  the  government  has  the  power  to  coerce 
individuals,  or,  in  other  words,  that  a  thousand  men  are 
stronger  than  one,  —  and  you  replied  that  you  did  not 
mean  this,  but  that  you  meant  that  it  was  right  in  the 
government  to  do  whatever,  in  its  judgment,  would 
serve  society,  no  matter  what  suffering  or  loss  might 
come  to  any  particular  individual.  Permit  me  to  ask 
the  following  questions  :  — 

"  First :  The  attractions  of  dry-goods  and  jewelry 
stores  lead  women  to  wasteful  expenditures.  Do  you 
think  the  legislature  has  a  right  to  forbid  such  tempta- 
tions ? 

"  Second :  Do  you  believe  our  legislators  have  the 
right  to  regulate  the  cooking  in  the  Parker  House,  if 
they  think  the  appetizing  dishes  now  furnished  in  that 
hotel  lead  people  to  excessive  indulgence  ? 

"  Third :  If  a  merchant  were  to  open  a  dry-goods 
house  in  Commonwealth  Avenue,  and  thus  injure  the 
value  of  the  property  in  that  fine  street  for  private  resi- 
dences (as  such  a  store  most  certainly  would),  do  you 
hold  that  the  legislature  would  have  the  right  to  close 
that  store  ? 

"  Fourth  :  Do  you  think,  if  our  legislature  should  reach 
the  conclusion  that  Dr.  Miner's  faith  is  pernicious,  it 
would  have  a  right  to  forbid  his  preaching  ? 

"Fifth:  Do  you  believe  that  the  legislature  of  Mas- 
sachusetts has  a  right  to  suppress  the  Boston  Post,  if,  in 
the  judgment  of  that  body,  the  politics  of  this  newspaper 
are  inimical  to  the  public  welfare  ? 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  79 

"  Sixth :  Do  you  believe  that  the  Inquisition  had  a 
right  to  torture  and  kill  Protestants  ? 

"  Seventh :  Do  you  believe  the  individual  man  has 
any  right,  which  is  sacred,  inviolable,  and  inalienable, 
and  if  so,  what  is  that  right? 

"  Yours,  truly, 

"Dio  LEWIS." 

"BOSTON,  March  2,  1875. 

"  DR.  Dio  LEWIS. 

"  My  dear  Sir :  You  understood  me  rightly.  I  spoke 
of  the  rigM,  not  the  power,  to  make  laws.  I  said  the 
State  must  take,  and  ought  to  take  many  private  rights, 
and  that  its  right  to  take  them  had  no  limit  but  the  pub- 
lic good. 

"  The  old  axiom  is  right.  '  Tlie  public  good  is  the 
supreme  law.'  Aside  from  constitutions,  the  public  good 
is  the  object  and  only  limit  of  the  law-making  power. 
Law  rightfully  forbids  crime.  But  if  crime  did  not 
injure  the  State,  it  ought  to  be  left  in  the  domain  of  con- 
science and  moral  suasion. 

"  The  right  of  the  law-making  power  to  command  or 
forbid,  has  a  wide  field  beyond  questions  of  crime  or 
merit,  guilt  or  innocence.  It  rightfully  seizes  the  crazy 
man,  or  one  who  has  the  small-pox  or  cholera,  however 
innocent.  It  dictates  the  education  of  my  children: 
compels  me  to  pay  for  educating  other  people's  children; 
forbids  hiring  them  to  work  more  than  the  hours  it  pre- 
scribes; orders  me  to  make  my  brick  walls  twenty 
inches  thick ;  prescribes  my  drainage  ;  tells  me  how 
many  dollars'  worth  of  police,  street  gas,  and  sidewalk  I 
want ;  makes  me  pay  the  bills,  and  in  many  other  ways 
makes  about  as  free  with  my  private  rights  as  if  I  never 
had  any.  All  this  it  has  a  right  to  do.  My  right  must 
yield  to  the  public  good. 


80  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

11  It  would,  in  my  judgment,  be  very  unwise,  foolish, 
absurd,  wrong,  for  the  law-making  power  to  interfere  in 
either  of  the  cases  mentioned  in  your  six  first  questions. 
But  I  wish  to  be  definite  to  the  very  limit  of  possibility, 
and  will  therefore  refer  to  your  fourth  and  fifth  ques- 
tions. 

"  If  a  sect  or  a  party  cost  the  United  States  six  hun- 
dred millions  a  year,  and  did  no  other  harm,  the  right  to 
squelch  it  would  be  questionable.  But  if,  in  addition  to 
the  direct  cost,  it  lessened  production,  increased  taxa- 
tion, corrupted  the  ballot,  deprived  one  tenth  of  the 
people  of  proper  food,  fuel,  shelter,  and  clothing,  doubled 
the  number  of  criminals  and  paupers,  and  was  equally 
pernicious  to  every  other  ordinary  object  of  government, 
the  public  good  would  justify,  —  would  give  the  right, 
—  would  (aside  from  constitutional  restriction)  make  it 
the  duty  of  the  law-making  power  to  snuff  out  the  sect 
or  party  if  it  could.  The  same  standard  of  right  will 
apply  to  all  but  the  seventh  question. 

"  To  your  seventh  question  I  say,  in  a  case  of  most 
extreme  peril,  involving  the  life  of  the  State,  such  a  case 
as  occurs  in  war,  there  is  no  private  right  that  the  State 
may  not  take  if  necessary  to  save  its  life.  The  right  is 
in  proportion  to  the  necessity. 

"  The  right  to  life  is  one  of  the  most  sacred  of  indi- 
vidual rights.  The  State  rightfully  took  the  lives  of 
Confederate  soldiers.  Half,  more  or  less,  were  innocent, 
involuntary  conscripts.  Government  just  as  truly  sacri- 
ficed its  own  soldiers.  If  the  State  can  rightfully  take 
the  lives  of  multitudes  of  its  most  meritorious  citizens  in 
a  case  of  the  most  extreme  necessity,  it  can  rightfully 
take  lesser  rights  in  cases  of  less  necessity. 

"  When  the  State  suffers  an  injury,  it  must  consider 
whether  it  can  apply  a  legal  remedy,  and  also  whether 
the  injury  is  great  enough  to  justify  the  remedy.  The 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  81 

right  is  in  proportion  to  the  necessity  and  efficacy  of  the 
remedy.  Any -law  sufficiently  essential  to  the  public 
good,  is  EIGHT. 

"Very  truly  yours, 

«H.  D.  GUSHING." 

Mr.  Gushing  gives  what  he  calls  an  old  axiom  —  "  The 
public  good  is  the  supreme  law."  I  have  never  heard 
of  such  an  axiom,  but  I  have  heard  that  "  The  public  safety 
is  the  supreme  law."  And  the  whole  difference  between 
the  views  I  am  advocating,  and  the  views  of  the  prohi- 
bitionists, js  found  in  the  difference  between  the  two 
words  "  good  "  and  "  safety." 

The  public  "  safety  "  is  endangered  by  an  armed  inva- 
sion, by  a  great  conflagration,  by  contagion,  or  the  like, 
and  in  their  presence  the  rights  of  individuals  must  give 
way.  "  Necessity  knows  no  law." 

'But  this  maxim  applies  only  in  cases  where  the  dan- 
ger is  so  imminent,  and  the  necessity  so  imperative,  as 
to  make  a  law,  for  the  time  being. 

The  public  "  good "  is  endangered  by  false  religious 
and  political  theories,  by  errors  in  dress,  sleep,  food  and 
drinks,  neither  of  which  can  be  touched  by  law. 

When  the  Mill  River  reservoir  gave  way,  the  man 
who  saw  it  was  justified  in  seizing  his  neighbor's  horse, 
rushing  down  the  valley,  shouting,  "  The  waters  are 
coming  !  run  for  your  lives !  "  But  for  a  man  to  seize 
his  neighbor's  horse,  and  rush  through  the  street  shriek- 
ing that  somebody  is  about  to  sell  a  'glass  of  lager,  is  a 
different  case.  If  my  good  friend  Gushing  were  to  seize 
a  horse  in  Washington  Street,  and  tear  up  toward  Rox- 
bury,  screaming  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "  Turn  out ! 
turn  out !  for  God's  sake  !  turn  out !  Jim  Biles  is  about 
to  sell  Pete  Smith  a  glass  of  whiskey,"  or  "  Mrs.  Jones  is 
lacing  her  corset  too  tight,"  the  chances  are,  that  instead 


82  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

of  the  police  court  holding  that  the  public  safety  justi- 
fied the  seizure  of  the  horse,  my  friend  would  have  to 
send  round  to  ask  me  to  bail  him  out. 

Instead  of  its  being  a  maxim  that  "  the  public  good  is 
the  supreme  law,"  one  of  the  wisest  of  all  sayings  was, 
that  a  wrong  done  to  the  humblest  individual  by  the  gov- 
ernment (that  is,  the  violation  of  any  one  of  his  rights  of 
person  or  property)  is  a  wrong  done  to  the  whole  people. 
And  this  is  true,  because,  if  one  man's  personal  rights 
can  be  violated  by  the  State  with  impunity,  then  all  the 
rights  of  all  the  people  may  be  violated  with  impunity. 

The  greatest  u  public  good  "  that  any  government  is 
capable  of,  is  to  secure  to  each  and  every  individual  the 
free  and  full  enjoyment  of  all  his  natural  rights  of  person 
and  property. 

I  put  to  Mr.  Gushing  seven  questions,  which  I  ask  the 
reader  to  peruse  again. 

Mr.  Gushing  replies  that  he  thinks  it  would  be  "  very 
unwise,  foolish,  absurd  and  wrong,"  for  the  legislature  to 
interfere  in  either  of  the  cases  given,  but  he  says  they 
have  a  perfect  right  to  interfere. 

When  I  ask  him  if  the  legislature  has  the  right  to 
suppress  Universalism,  to  suppress  the  newspapers  of 
the  opposition  party,  rich  and  indigestible  food,  and 
all  displays  of  dry  goods  or  jewelry  which  may  tempt  to 
waste,  and  whether  the  Inquisition  had  a  right  to  tor- 
ture and  kill  Protestants,  I  ask  him  these  questions, 
because  I  know  Mr.  Gushing  stands  very  high  among 
prohibitionists,  will  be  admitted  by  them  to  be  good 
authority,  and  withal  has  the  pluck  to  say,  without  re- 
serve, exactly  what  the  prohibitionists  hold  to  be  the 
rights  of  the  government. 

My  seventh  question  was,  "  Do  you  believe  the  indi- 
vidual man  has  any  right  which  is  sacred,  inviolable, 
and  inalienable,  and  if  so,  what  is  that  right  ?  ;; 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  83 

My  friend  replies  that  the  individual  man  has  no  right 
which  is  sacrei,  inviolable,  and  inalienable. 

In  regard  to  the  other  matters  mentioned  in  Mr.  Cush- 
ing's  letter,  I  have  to  say  that  some  of  them  are  else- 
where fully  answered  in  this  work.  In  regard  to  the 
others,  I  have  to  say  further,  that  government  no  doubt 
does  a  great  many  things  which  it  has  no  right  to  do ; 
and  perhaps  some  of  those  mentioned  by  Mr.  Gushing 
may  be  among  the  number. 

He  indorses  everything  the  government  does,  whether 
individual  rights  are  thereby  invaded  or  not.  I  indorse 
nothing  that  invades  individual  rights,  except  in  such 
cases  of  great  necessity  as  have  been  mentioned.  It 
is  the  highest  duty  of  government  to  protect  individual 
rights ;  it  is  tyranny  to  trample  upon  them.  In  what, 
pray,  does  tyranny  consist,  except  in  trampling  upon 
individual  rights? 

My  neighbor  A  owns  and  occupies  a  house.  It  is  not 
denied  that  the  government  may  blow  it  up  to  save  the 
city.  That  right  is  inalienable.  But  has  A  no  right  in 
that  house,  which  under  any  circumstances,  is  inalienable  ? 
Suppose  there  is  no  conflagration ;  suppose  there  is  no 
invasion,  and  no  contagion ;  suppose  it  is  a  time  of  peace, 
and  health,  and  insurance  prosperity,  and  that  A  is  a 
good  citizen :  has  he  any  right  to  that  house  which  is 
sacred  and  inviolable?  We  see  what  Mr.  Gushing, 
speaking  for  the  prohibitionists,  would  answer.  He 
goes  so  far  as  to  declare  that  the  Inquisition  had  a 
right  to  torture  and  kill  protestants  for  their  religious 
opinions. 

But  addressing  myself  to  others  who  are  not  commit- 
ted to  prohibition,  I  submit  that  the  individual  man  has 
rights  which  are  sacred,  inviolable,  and  inalienable.  And 
I  submit  that  with  rare  exceptions  legislation  is  based 
upon  the  assumption  that  the  individual  has  such  rights, 
6 


84  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

and  that  the  great  object  of  government  is  the  protec- 
tion of 'those  rights. 

So  sacred  is  the  territory  within  the  circle  drawn 
about  the  individual,  that  if  I  touch  another  man  never 
so  lightly,  and  entirely  by  accident,  I  say  to  him  in- 
stantly, "  I  beg  your  pardon."  If  a  man  retires  within 
his  house  and  locks  his  door,  the  exigency  must  be  great 
which  will  justify  a  trespass  upon  his  premises,  even  by 
officers  of  the  law.  Or  if  he  be  outside  his  house,  and 
have  in  his  pocket  a  million  dollars,  his  creditors  cannot 
touch  it,  so  great  is  the  awe  of  this  sacred  personality. 
All  civilized  nations  feel  that  the  great  object  of  gov- 
ernment is  to  stand  guard  around  the  rights  of  the  indi- 
vidual. 

The  crime  of  monarchical  governments  is  the  violation 
of  the  rights  of  the  individual.  In  fact,  this  is  the  only 
crime  of  any  government.  And  at  the  bottom,  this  is  the 
only  possible  crime  among  men.  The  duty  of  government 
—  the  only  duty,  is  to  protect  the  individual.  That  thing 
called  society  is  a  creature  of  the  imagination.  If  you 
look  for  it,  you  cannot  find  it.  You  will  find  one  in- 
dividual, two  individuals,  a  million  individuals,  but  you 
may  look  all  your  life  for  society,  and  you  will  not  find  it. 

There  is  a  vast  deal  of  harm  done  by  this  talk  about 
the  rights  and  wrongs  of  society.  There  is  a  seeming 
propriety  under  a  monarchy,  where  a  king  rules  by 
divine  right,  where  a  king  is  the  government,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  rights  of  the  State.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, an  individual  man  has  his  rights,  and  the  State 
has  other  distinct  and  peculiar  rights.  But  in  a  country 
like  ours,  all  talk  about  the  rights  of  the  State  has  no 
meaning,  and  is  mischievous.  We  have  borrowed  the 
language  of  monarchical  countries,  and  continue  to  speak 
of  the  State  as  a  distinct  entity,  a  separate  creature,  with 
head  and  heart,  with  rights  and  authority,  as  a  somebody 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  85 

who  may  be  offended.  You  will  hear  it  said  that  the 
conduct  of  this  or  that  man  has  injured  society.  Now,  if 
you  will  leave  your  house  and  begin  to  look  for  the 
society  which  has  been  injured,  you  may  go  down  street, 
and  either  keep  straight  ahead,  or  turn  to  the  right  or 
left,  you  will  not  find  society,  but  you  will  find  men 
and  women.  It  is  these  that  are  injured,  if  anybody  is 
injured,  and  when  the  government  needs  to  interfere,  it 
must  interfere  on  behalf  of  these  individuals. 

Mr.  Gushing,  in  one  form  or  another,  repeats  the  same 
idea  in  every  paragraph.  It  is  all  the  time  the  good  of 
the  public,  or  the  public  good,  or  injury  to  the  State,  or 
the  rights  of  government. 

His  one  idea  from  the  first  to  the  last  paragraph  is, 
that  the  State  is  one  thing,  and  the  individual  another ; 
that  the  State  has  its  rights,  and  the  individual  man 
his  obligations.  This  one  error,  inherited  from  the  East- 
ern continent,  has  done  more  harm  in  America  than 
all  other  errors  inherited  from  monarchical  govern- 
ments. 

Mr.  Gushing  says  that  "  the  public  good  is  the  object 
and  only  limit  of  the  law-making  power."  Now,  the  fact 
is,  that  the  "  public  good  "  is  no  part  of  the  object  of  the 
law-making  power.  Its  only  object  is  the  protection  of 
the  natural  rights  of  individuals.  It  has  nothing  what- 
ever to  do  with  the  public.  It  owes  nothing  to  the 
public.  There  is  no  public. 

All  this  talk  about  the  public,  or  society,  is,  consciously 
or  unconsciously,  a  mere  trick  of  politicians  and  others 
to  dodge  responsibility.  It  is  the  same  sort  of  trick  that 
individuals,  who  are  members  of  corporations,  resort  to 
when  they  do  things  as  members  of  a  corporation  which 
they  would  be  ashamed  to  do  as  individual  men. 

An  eminent  Englishman,  who  had  had  long  and  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  public  men,  declared  that  he  had 


86  THE    TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

never  seen  men,  however  good  as  private  citizens,  three 
of  whom  would  not,  as  public  men,  divide  a  murder  be- 
tween them. 

This  is  pretty  strong,  but  contains  more  than  a  grain 
of  truth.  A  gentleman,  who  would  not  think  of  saying 
to  his  neighbor,  <4  You  shall  not  believe  this,  or  eat  that, 
or  drink  the  other,"  has  no  hesitation,  when  he  is  one  in 
a  legislative  assembly,  to  pass  a  law  forbidding  anything. 


XVI. 

I  TAKE  the  liberty  to  submit  the  following  paragraphs 
upon  points  already  mentioned.     The  aspects  of  the 
subject   presented   in   this  work   are    somewhat   novel, 
and,  therefore,  a  little  repetition  may  not  prove  unaccept- 
able. 

It  is  not  denied  that  Massachusetts  has  to-day  upon 
her  statute-book  other  laws  involving  the  same  violation 
of  personal  liberty  as  Prohibition  ;  but  every  law  inter- 
fering with  personal  vices  is  simply  on  the  statute-book, 
but  has  no  practical  vitality. 

For  example :  prostitution  is  an  enormous  evil,  and  we 
have  a  severe  statute  against  it ;  but  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  if  a  house  of  prostitution  be  conducted  in  a  quiet, 
unobtrusive  way,  —  no  matter  how  much  it  may  depre- 
ciate the  value  of  property  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
disgust  decent  neighbors,  —  the  authorities  cannot  break 
it  up.  If  any  Prohibitionist  can  devise  a  method  by 
which  the  authorities  can  break  up  such  a  house,  it  would 
be  easy  to  sell  his  discovery  to  the  property  holders  of 
New  York  city  for  a  hundred  million  of  dollars.  There 
are  many  neighborhoods  in  that  city  where  the  residents 
have  raised  heaven  and  earth  to  break  up  such  estab- 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  87 

lishments,  and  the  authorities  have  been  only  too  willing 
to  help  them ;  but  the  result,  after  the  most  determined 
efforts,  has  been  this :  that  until  such  an  establishment 
becomes  a  nuisance,  —  not  a  nuisance  in  the  moral  sense, 
but  a  nuisance  in  the  legal  sense,  —  it.  is  impossible  to 
break  it  up.  The  courts  of  New  York  city  have  gone 
very  far,  and  used  the  most  questionable  means,  in  defer- 
ence to  the  wishes  of  property-holders,  but  the  final 
result  is,  that  the  establishment  remains.  Just  such 
troubles  between  respectable  neighbors  and  questionable 
houses  have  marked  the  history  of  Boston.  But  except 
where  the  houses  have  exhibited  improper  sights  or 
sounds,  or  imparted  disease,  or  in  other  ways  become  a 
legal  nuisance,  they  have  maintained  their  ground. 
There  are  a  great  many  property-holders  in  Boston  who 
know  this  to  their  sorrow. 

Scattered  throughout  the  city  there  are  unnumbered 
rooms  over  stores  and  other  places  of  business,  and  in 
private  houses,  occupied  by  persons  who  are  living  in 
the  relation  of  husband  and  wife,  without  legal  marriage. 
There  are  not  two  punishments  for  every  hundred  thou- 
sand violations  of  the  statute  against  such  intimacies. 

Gambling  is  very  common  in  our  city.  There  is  a 
great  number  of  rooms  or  suites  of  rooms  devoted  to  this 
vice.  In  club-houses  and  many  hotels,  gambling  may  be 
found  every  night,  and  often  lasting  all  night. 
.  The  police  know  to-day  of  a  great  number  of  these 
places,  where  on  any  night  they  may  find  gambling. 
The  number  of  violations  of  the  statute  against  gam- 
bling known  to  the  police  is,  during  the  year,  enormous. 
Not  one  violation  in  a  thousand  which  are  known,  or 
might  easily  be  known,  is  punished. 

The  sale  of  a  glass  of  grog  in  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts  is,  to-day,  against  a  statute,  and  punish- 
able by  fine  and  imprisonment.  Gambling  is  a  crime 


88  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

punishable  by  fine  and  imprisonment.  Sexual  intimacy, 
without  marriage,  is  a  crime  punishable  by  fine  and  im- 
prisonment. 

Now,  if  we  add  the  transgressions  of  these  three  stat- 
ute laws,  we  shall  find  that,  at  a  low  estimate,  there  are 
more  than  ten  millions  a  month. 

Here  we  have  ten  million  violations  of  statute  law, 
in  this  city,  in  a  single  month.  And  these  violations  hurt 
the  physical  and  moral  life  of  the  people  more  in  one  day 
than  murder,  theft,  burglary,  and  arson  affect  us  in  a 
year.  Now,  I  ask,  why  cannot  we  enforce  such  statute 
laws  ?  When  we  understand  that  these  are  vices,  and 
not  fit  subjects  for  civil  law,  it  is  all  plain.  It  then 
becomes  plain  how  it  is  easy  to  punish  by  law  the  crime 
of  theft,  which  does  less  harm  in  ten  years  than  rum  does 
in  one  day,  but  that  the  matchless  curse  of  drink  we  can- 
not grapple  with  by  law. 

How  any  man  can  look  over  such  facts,  and  declare 
that  vices  and  crimes  are  all  alike  punishable  by  law,  is 
a  mystery. 

If  a  man  steal  a  handful  of  peanuts,  you  can  punish 
him  by  law,  as  sure  as  fate.  But  that  cook,  who  pre- 
pares dishes  so  appetizing,  that  a  half  dozen  promising 
young  men,  who  go  to  take  a  late  supper  with  him  every 
night,  ruin  their  health,  and,  if  you  please,  destroy  their 
lives  —  cannot  fee  punished  by  law.  The  men  had  a 
right  to  eat  what  they  pleased,  and  as  much  as  they 
pleased.  I  grant  you  it  was  a  wretched  vice  ;  and  I 
grant  you  that  the  cook  was  an  accomplice  in  that  vice, 
but  he  committed  no  crime.  His  case  is  not  one  that 
you  can  punish  by  law. 

You  may  argue,  and  you  may  convince  everybody  in 
the  Commonwealth,  if  they  are  not  already  convinced, 
that  eating  late  suppers  of  rich  food  is  an  unmitigated 
curse.  But  if  our  legislators  were  such  fools  as  to  "make 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  89 

a  statute  against  the  preparation  of  luscious  food,  and  the 
eating  of  it  at  unseasonable  hours,  they  would  greatly 
increase  the  evil.  Thousands  who  never  eat  such  foods, 
and  never  eat  at  unseasonable  hours,  would  flock  to  res- 
taurants, and  sitting  down  at  midnight,  with  the  State 
constables  appointed  to  enforce  the  law,  would  eat  many 
an  extra  dish  to  the  health  of  the  legislature. 

Eating  between  meals  is  an  injurious  habit.  Suppose 
now,  in  view  of  the  great  harm  done  by  this  habit,  the 
legislature  were  to  pass  a.  law  that  no  one  should  furnish 
anything  to  eat  between  meals.  Does  anybody  doubt 
that  eating  between  meals  would  become  "the  regular 
custom  of. the  country,  and  a  hundred  persons  would  eat 
between  meals  where  one  does  now  ? 

The  change  last  spring  in  Ohio,  when  the  elections 
came  on,  was  most  significant.  I  pleaded  with  the  noble 
women  who  were  leading  in  the  great  crusade  move- 
ment, to  keep  it  out  of  politics.  I  said  to  them,  "  If  you 
consent  to  interest  yourselves  in  the  election  of  a  tem- 
perance ticket,  and  thus  associate  your  movement  with 
the  government,  it  will  have  as  little  vitality  as  religion 
has  in  those  countries  where  it  is  uride-r  the  protection 
of  the  government."  I  explained  to  them  that  the  best 
moral  or  religious  cause,  if  linked  with  the  civil  govern- 
ment, would,  like  the  Church  of  England,  lose  all  fervor 
and  power. 

But,  as  I  have  said  in  another  place,  the  men  in  Ohio 
thought  that,  now  the  grog-shops  were  closed,  the  only 
thing  to  do  was  to  crystallize  the  public  sentiment  into  a 
law,  and  thus  make  it  permanent.  As  soon  as  this  decis- 
ion was  arrived  at  in  any  locality,  the  rum- shops  were 
soon  in  full  blast  again. 

That  people  can't  see  the  philosophy  of  this,  that  they 
can't  see  that  linking  the  temperance  movement  with 


90  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

politics,    will    paralyze   and    emasculate    it,   astonishes 
me. 

There  is  not  a  social,  or  moral,  or  religious  movement, 
or  virtue,  among  us,  which  may  not  be  killed  by  the  fos- 
tering care  of  the  government. 

The  Universalist  church  has  just  emerged  from  perse- 
cution. The  conduct  of  our  State  toward  that  church 
was  outrageous.  But  now  all  its  disabilities  have  been 
removed,  and  Universalists  are  as  good  as  anybody. 

But  suppose  that  when  forty-nine  fiftieths  of  the  mem- 
bers of  our  legislature  honestly  believed  that  to  take  hell 
out  of  religion  was  to  open  the  flood-gates  of  every  con- 
ceivable vice  and  crime,  —  suppose  at  that  time  that  a  law- 
had  been  enacted,  forbidding  the  Universalist  faith,  and 
forbidding  ah1  persons  to  preach  Universalism,  —  would 
it  not  have  been  precisely  parallel  to  the  prohibitory 
liquor  law  ?  Prohibitionists  teach  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  government  to  watch  over  the  people,  and  protect 
them  from  harm.  When  the  legislature  believed,  per- 
haps without  an  exception,  that  a  flood  of  vice  and  crime 
was  imminent  by  taking  hell  out  of  religion,  was  there 
ever  an  hour  in  the  history  of  New  England  when 
the  legislature  was  more  solemnly  bound  to  act,  to 
act  promptly,  without  fear  or  favor,  to  rescue  the 
people  from  impending  calamity  ?  If  the  prohibitory 
liquor  law  is  right  in  principle,  the  legislature  of  this 
State  was  guilty  before  God  of  the  most  infamous  cow- 
ardice and  dereliction  of  duty  in  not  squelching  Univer- 
salism. 

If  the  prohibitory  law  is  right  in  principle,  no  body 
of  men  in  the  history  of  the  world  achieved  a  nobler 
career  than  the  Spanish  Inquisition.  Pray,  what  are  the 
bodies  of  men  ?  "  What  doth  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain 
the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  "  The  inquisi- 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  91 

tors  conscientiously  believed  that  a  certain  faith  was 
indispensable  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul.  Their  duty 
was  plain  and  imperative. 

Jf  the  prohibitory  liquor  law  is  right  in  principle,  why 
was  not  the  Spanish  Inquisition  right?  and  why  would 
not  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  have  been  justified 
in  the  enactment  of  laws  against  Universalism  ? 

It  is  constantly  urged  that  the  prohibitory  law  is  an 
educator.  I  suppose  some  persons  may  be  honest  in 
this  opinion,  but  nothing  is  better  settled  than  that  pre- 
mature legislation  operates  most  prejudicially  to  the 
cause  or  interest  in  behalf  of  which  the  enactment  was 
secured. 

When  a  law  is  placed  upon  the  statute-book  which  is 
not  an  exponent  of  public  sentiment,  it  not  only  does  not 
tend  to  lift  up  public  sentiment,  but  it  always  provokes 
opposition,  and  arouses  prejudice  against  the  cause  which 
it  is  designed  to  serve. 

The  prohibitory  liquor  law  in  Massachusetts  is  a  strik- 
ing illustration.  It  never  has  been  the  voice  of  -the 
people,  but  it  did  much  more  nearly  represent,  public 
sentiment  fifteen  years  ago  than  it  does  to-day. 

That  is  to  say,  while  the  law  has  been  in  existence  in 
the  State  twenty  years,  occupying  the  attention  of  news- 
papers, and  the  public  generally,  nTbre  than  all  other 
laws  put  together,  it  has  signally  failed  as  an  educator. 

Indeed,  in  the  recent  election,  a  large  army  of  Republi- 
cans, who,  ten  years  ago,  would  not  have  broken  with 
their  party  on  the  ground  of  prohibition,  did  so  break  in 
the  gubernatorial  election  of  1874. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  device  can  be  imagined,  whose 
influence  would  prove  less  educational  than  premature 
legislation,  even  if  the  evil  aimed  at  were  a  proper  sub- 
ject of  civil  law. 


92  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

But  the  question  constantly  recurs,  What  would  you 
do  with  reference  to  the  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks? 
Hb.you  go  for  free  rum,  for  license,  or  what  ? 

European  governments  have  found  it  convenient  to 
raise  a  large  revenue  by  granting  licenses  for  the  sale 
of  intoxicating  drinks.  While  a  pretence  of  guardian- 
ship has  everywhere  been  put  forward,  quite  as  much 
in  connection  with  the  lager  beer  shops  of  Germany  as 
the  gin  shops  of  England,  practically  no  such  guardian- 
ship is  exercised.  If  a  row  occurs  in  these  shops,  they 
are  brought  into  court,  under  the  nuisance  act,  which  is 
a  part  of  the  common  law.  Surely  no  one  who  has 
observed  the  character  of  the  persons  engaged  in  this 
bad  trade  in  Europe,  and  in  this  country,  will  contend 
that  the  license  system  secures  "  persons  of  good  moral 
character." 

We  have  inherited  from  our  European  ancestors  this 
notion  of  license,  and  have  continued  it  in  America,  in 
considerable  part,  for  the  same  reason  as  in  Europe,  viz., 
as  a  source  of  revenue.  No  one  supposes  that  we  keep 
the  business  in  the  hands  of  persons  of  "  good  -moral 
character." 

Many  persons  seem  to  think  that  all  you  can  gain  by 
law,  or  by  threats  and  punishment,  is  "  so  far,  so  good." 

But  does  any  thoughtful  man  believe  that  the  little 
temporary  impression,  here  and  there,  upon  the  liquor 
traffic,  by  the  prohibitory  law,  can  counterbalance  the 
contempt  for  State  constables  and  law  which  has  come 
of  seeing  thousands  of  grog-shops  going  boldly  forward, 
year  after  year,  in  contemptuous  defiance  of  legislation  ? 
I  believe  the  demoralizing  influence  of  this  failure  is 
great  beyond  all  calculation. 

Our  prohibitory  friends  really  seem  to  think  that  it 
would  be  well  for  the  legislature  to  try  a  set-to  with  any 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  93 

vice.  They  might  pass  some  tremendous  enactment 
against  tobacco.  Say,  make  a  law  punishing  the  use  or 
sale  of  tobacco  with  fine  and  imprisonment.  Or  let  the 
law  be  more  severe  ;  let  it  call  this  offence  a  grave 
crime.  In  this  way,  the  legislature  might  try  a  hack  at 
it,  and  see  how  it  would  work.  If  the  thing  did  not 
seem  to  work,  after  a  few  years  of  platform  cursing  of 
the  officers  of  the  law,  let  this  law  sleep,  and  try  a  tilt 
with  some  other  abuse. 

I  conscientiously  believe  that  such  thoughtless  legis- 
lation demoralizes  the  people  tenfold  more  than  rum  and 
tobacco. 

In  regard  to  the  crimes  which  are  the  only  legitimate 
objects  of  legal  punishment,  there  is  no  doubt.  No  one 
ever  thinks  of  a  "  cut  and  try  "  treatment  for  crimes. 
If  one  man  strikes  another  man,  or  steals  his  horse,  the 
natural  treatment  is  punishment.  It  is  the  universal 
instinct  that  crime  must  be  punished ;  and  this  instinct 
is  quite  as  clear  and  strong  among  savage  as  among 
civilized  people. 

The  instinct  is  quite  as  universal  that  a  man  has  a 
right  to  do  as  he  pleases  with  himself  and  his  own. 

Prohibition  orators  describe  in  glowing  terms  the 
darkness  and  sorrows  of  intemperance  ;  they  describe 
the  army  of  drunkards'  wives,  whose  sad  faces  tell  of 
broken  hearts,  and  that  innumerable  army  of  drunkards1 
children,  who  hold  up  their  rags  toward  heaven,  and 
plead  for  help.  And  when  the  scene  overwhelms  us,  they 
cry  out,  "  Who  would  not  vote  to  close  up  forever  the 
sources  of  this  black  river  of  death  ?  Is  there  a  man  so 
void  of  sympathy  and  heart  that  he  will  refuse  to  vote 
for  the  removal  of  this  awful  curse  ? " 

This  is  very  ingenious  and  effective.  But  if  the  evils 
of  gluttony,  or  any  of  the  fifty  vices  common  among  men, 


94  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

were  depicted,  and  then  the  orator  were  to  exclaim, 
"  What  man  so  void  of  human  feeling  as  to  refuse  to  vote 
for  the  removal  of  this  curse  from  the  world  ?  "  —  he 
would  be  guilty  of  precisely  the  same  sophistry,  the 
same  trick,  as  when  he  would  make  it  appear  that  he 
who  does  not  think  that  voting  is  the  cure  for  this  evil, 
lacks  sympathy  and  heart.  I  will  agree  to  the  worst 
that  can  be  said  of  the  woes  of  intemperance,  and  then  I 
would  exclaim,  "  Who  that  has  human-  feeling  can  inter- 
fere with  the  use  of  the  natural  means  of  cure,  by  drag- 
ging the  sacred  subject  of  temperance  into  the  arena  of 
politics  ?  " 

In  some  manufacturing  villages  in  New  England  the 
proprietors  have  cured  intemperance  by  giving  the  poor 
a  chance  to  own  their  homes.  A  man  who  owns  a  house 
and  little  garden  is  not  a  tenth  part  as  likely  to  get 
drunk  as  the  man  who  is  a  tenant  at  will  in  one  of  those 
houses,  in  a  factory  row,  without  garden  and  without 
distinctive  character. 

A  man  who  has  the  means  to  dress  his  children  neatly, 
and  who  sees  them,  in  school  and  at  picnics,  mingling 
with  other  well-dressed  and  happy  children,  has  a  very 
strong  incentive  to  sobriety. 

If  you  go  to  England,  and  see  the  wretched  poverty 
on  every  hand,  you  are  no  longer  surprised  that  the 
English  are  such  drunkards. 

We  hear  it  stated  in  prohibition  speeches  that  the 
reason  for  the  non-enforcement  of  the  prohibitory  law 
is  the  fact  that  capital  and  appetite  unite  to  defend  it. 

Let  capital  and  avarice  unite  to  defend  stealing,  and 
do  you  think  the  law  against  stealing  would  fail  ? 

Does  anybody  really  believe  that  selling  rum  to  sane 
men  who  ask  for  it,  is  a  crime  like  stealing  ?  If  the  man 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  95 

who  buys  it,  is  what  the  law  calls  non  compos  mentis, 
then  it  is  a  crime  to  sell  him  rum,  or  a  knife,  or  a  pistol ; 
but  if  a  man  is  compos  mentis,  is  it  a  crime  to  sell  him 
rum,  or  a  knife,  or  a  pistol  ? 

A  glass  of  rum  may  do  great  harm ;  a  pistol  may  do 
great  harm  ;  to  sell  either  of  them  to  an  insane  man,  is  a 
grave  crime.  But  to  say  to  a  man  who  is  compos  mentis, 
"  You  shall  not  have  a  glass  of  rum  or  a  pistol,"  is  a 
sort  of  outrage  and  insult  which  needs  but  to  be  re- 
peated to  drive  men  away  from  each  other,  and  destroy 
human  society.  A  table  surfeit  may  kill  a  man,  and  to 
give  an  insane  man  an  opportunity  to  surfeit  himself, 
might  be  a  crime.  But  it  is  the  talk  of  a  fool  to  say  that 
nine  men  who  are  compos  mentis  shall  not  be  permitted 
to  manage  their  own  eating  and  drinking,  because  one 
man  might  hurt  himself. 

Extravagant  or  false  statements  hurt  the  person  making 
them,  and  weaken  his  cause. 

If,  in  commenting  upon  the  character  of  some  person 
who  has  been  guilty  of  a  slight  fault,  I  say  he  is  an 
infernal  scoundrel,  the  sense  of  justice  rises  in  every 
listener,  and  I  shall  fail  to  "hurt  the  person  I  criticise. 

We  have  greatly  injured  the  temperance  cause  by 
our  false  statements  about  ram-sellers.  We  have  cursed 
them  as  enemies  of  the  human  race,  as  retailers  of  liquid 
damnation,  as  keepers  of  hell  holes,  as  devils  seeking  the 
destruction  of  their  fellows. 

I  know  a  dozen  Boston  rum-sellers.  Part  of  them  are 
of  the  best  class,  and  a  part  of  the  worst.  Some  of 
these  I  have  known  somewhat  intimately  for  years. 
They  are  not  devils.  They  are  not  seeking  the  destruc- 
tion, of  their  fellows,  but  for  the  greater  part  they  wish 
their  fellows  well.  They  are  fair,  good-hearted  men, 
and  when  we  go  about  with  subscription  papers  on 


96  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

behalf  of  a  good  tiling,  they  are  as  likely  to  subscribe 
liberally  as  other  folks.  To  speak  of  such  men  in  the 
slang  whang  of  the  temperance  lecturer,  is  not  to  hurt 
them,  but  the  temperance  cause. 

Temperance  speakers  talk  about  rum-sellers  as  though 
they  went  out  into  the  public  highway,  seized  men,  and 
dragged  them  in.  Such  speakers  should  be  informed 
that  rum-sellers  do  not  conduct  their  business  in  this 
way. 

I  may  add  that  in  a  large  majority  of  rum-shops  the 
proprietors  discourage,  many  of  them  to  the  point  of 
blank  refusal,  the  drinking  of  any  more  liquor  than  they 
think  is  good  for  their  customers.  Many  of  them  hon- 
estly believe  that  a  few  social  glasses  will  hurt  no  one. 

When  we  learn  to  tell  the  truth,  confining  our  remarks 
to  an  honest  statement  about  the  use  of  their  miserable 
poisons,  —  when  we  stop  lying,  and  utter  our  convictions 
about  their  trade  in  a  reasonable  and  earnest  spirit,  — 
they  will  begin  to  feel,  and  keenly  feel,  the  force  of  our 
influence. 

Governor  Talbot,  with  members  of  his  council,  and 
the  Hon.  Joshua  Nye,  addressed  a  meeting  in  East 
Boston,  on  the  occasion  of  the  second  anniversary  of  the 
founding  of  the  children's  "  Cold  Water  Temple." 

My  excellent  friend  Mr.  Lewis,  editor  of  the  East 
Boston  Advocate,  who  is  the  head  and  front  of  this  most 
important  and  beneficent  movement,  in  making  his  report 
at  the  opening  of  the  exercises,  mentioned  that  the  rum- 
sellers  of  East  Boston  had  given  more  money  to  help  his 
movement,  than  all  the  churches ;  that  in  explanation, 
they  declared  that  they  did  not  wish  to  see  their  chil- 
dren or  their  neighbors'  children  learn  to  drink. 

And  my  good  friend  Burnham  Wardwell,  the  devoted 
friend  of  discharged  convicts,  writes  me  from  Great 
Falls,  N.  H.,  "  I  have  been  holding  a  series  of  temper- 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  97 

artce  meetings  in  this  place,  which  are  doing  great  good, 
and  every  dollar  for  hall,  printing,  and  personal  expenses, 
has  been  contributed  by  rum-sellers  and  drunkards." 

A  few  years  ago  everybody  thought  rum  a  good  thing, 
and  almost  everybody  drank  it.  My  grandfather  was  a 
deacon  in  a  Baptist  church,  and  a  distiller.  He  was  a 
very  prayerful  man,  but  I  suppose  that  for  each  prayer 
uttered  by  him  in  the  ear  of  Heaven,  he  sent  out,  for  the 
stomachs  of  his  fellow-men,  five  hundred  gallons  of  peach 
brandy  and  whiskey.  He  was  a  very  conscientious 
man,  and  yet  he  was  an  active  distiller  for  forty  years. 
Alcoholic  drinks  were  just  as  bad  then  as  now.  Thou- 
sands of  people  to-day  think  that  these  drinks  are  good. 
Doctors  prescribe  them,  and  nineteen  people  out  of  twenty 
think  they  are  good  under  some  circumstances.-  If  a 
man  sells  drink,  shall  we  pronounce  him  a  black-hearted 
villain  ?  With  my  convictions,  stealing  is  a  better  busi- 
ness than  rum-selling.  But  my  convictions  on  this 
subject  are  not  those  of  many  men,  who  are  better  than 
I  am,  I  doubt  not,  in  many  respects.  Many  of  our  most 
honorable  citizens  defend  strong  drink,  both  in  theory 
and  practice.  That  they  are  most  grievously  mistaken, 
and  that  they  stand  directly  in  the  way  of  the  most  im- 
portant moral  movement  in  the  history  of  the  world,  I 
have  not  a  shadow  of  doubt.  It  will  not  take  us  long 
now  to  convince  them  of  their  error,  provided  we  stop 
insulting  and  bullying  them. 

A  man  who  thinks  that  to  use  reason,  persuasion,  and 
brotherly  love  upon  a  rum-drinker  or  rum-seller,  and  vary 
it  occasionally  with  a  slap  or  a  kick,  —  any  man  who 
supposes  that  kicks  and  kindness  can  be  made  to  work 
together,  in  converting  rum-drinkers  or  rum-sellers,  or 
anybody  else,  —  has  never  looked  into  his  own  soul. 
When  you  take  the  case  to  yourself,  you  will  realize  the 
litter  impossibility  of  making  two  such  radically  different 


98  THE    TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

agencies  work  together.  The  mixing  of  oil  and  water 
is  nothing  to  it. 

If  we  were  to  go  to  Dr.  Miner,  and  tell  him  that  we  be- 
lieve his  theology  to  be  an  enemy  to  public  morality,  and 
take  possession  of  his  pulpit,  he  would  cry  out  at  once,  — 

"  I  will  not  discuss  theology  with  you.  Give  me  my 
pulpit.  Give  me  my  own.  Treat  me  as  a  man.  Recog- 
nize my  rights,  and  then,  if  you  come  in  the  proper 
spirit,  I  shall  be  happy  to  discuss  theology  with  you." 

If  we  should  go  into  the  Connecticut  valley,  and  tell 
old  Deacon  Bosworth  that  raising  tobacco  is  a  sin  and  a 
crime,  and  take  possession  of  his  farm,  —  instead  of  lis- 
ening  to  our  physiological  and  moral  reasons,  he  would 
say,— 

"  Get  off  my  place.  Give  me  back  my  property,  and 
then  if  you  come  in  a  courteous  and  kind  spirit,  I  will 
listen  to  you." 

My  neighbor's  theology,  or  his  diet,  or  his  drinks,  or 
his  tobacco  trade,  or  corset  trade,  or  whiskey  trade,  I  may 
condemn ;  I  think  it  is  an  enemy  to  public  morality,  and 
I  go  to  him.  I  carry  in  my  left  hand,  if  you  please,  the 
real  Christian  spirit,  —  call  it  love,  —  and  I  offer  love, 
but  behind  my  back  I  hold  in  my  right  hand  a  black 
snake  whip.  I  keep  that  concealed,  and  go  on  with  my 
love.  Of  course  I  do  not  go  forward  very  heartily,  for 
my  mind  is  divided  between  the  love  and  the  whip.  I 
am  thinking  all  the  time,  that  if  he  doesn't  succumb  to 
love,  I  will  try  the  black  snake. 

He  asks  me,  after  listening  to  my  love,  "  What  have 
you  in  the  other  hand,  behind  your  back  ?  " 

I  reply,  "  No  matter.     I  offer  you  love." 

But  I  am  all  the  time  thinking  whether  I  have  the 
black  snake  entirely  concealed.  After  listening  to  me, 
he  again  asks,  — 

"  What  have  you  in  the  other  hand  ?  " 


THE  TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  99 

At  length  I  show  my  whip ;  and  at  once  he  will  cry 
out, — 

"  I  want  none  of  your  love,  and  none  of  your  black 
snake  whip ;  leave  me." 

Or,  if  you  please,  I  go  to  him  and  talk  in  the  most 
loving  way,  and  altogether  in  that  spirit.  Do  you  think 
the  case  would  be  helped,  if,  alternating  with  my  visits, 
my  neighbor  should  go  to  insult  and  kick  him?  No 
manly  man  need  go  any  farther  to  answer  this  question, 
than  to  look  within  his  own  breast. 

The  common  objection  to  depending  on  moral  suasion 
is,  that  it  is  too  slow.  The  evil  is  so  great,  and  the  dan- 
ger so  appalling,  we  can't  wait. 

Citizens  of  Massachusetts  who  have  watched  the  futile 
efforts  to  enforce  prohibition,  say  that  moral  suasion  is 
too  slow,  and  that  we  must  have  a  law,  in  order  to  cure 
immediately.  In  conversation  with  a  prohibitionist  re- 
cently, one  who  has  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the 
attempts  to  enforce  prohibition  in  Boston,  he  said,  — 

"  I  believe  in  moral  suasion.  I  believe  that  public 
sentiment  is  more  enduring  and  reliable  than  the  vigi- 
lance of  a  constable,  and  should  be  very  glad  if  we  could 
wait  for  the  employment  of  this  force  alone  :  but  we  must 
have  something  which  will  cure  the  evil  now." 

And  here  in  Boston,  after  twenty  years  of  prohibition, 
we  have  to-day,  including  drug-stores  and  groceries, 
where  intoxicating  drinks  can  be  purchased  without  let 
or  hindrance,  not  less  than  five  thousand  rum-shops. 
And  yet  my  prohibitory  friend  thought  we  must  have 
law  in  order  to  cure  the  evil  immediately. 

The  woman's  movement  and  the  Washingtonian  move- 
ment combined,  have  removed  the  dram-shops  in  towns 
of  five  to  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  in  a  month ;  and  I 
have  not  a  shadow  of  doubt,  if  we  could  get  rid  of  this 
7 


100  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

vain  dependence  upon  the  constable,  that  the  same  com- 
bination would  march  triumphantly  through  our  large 
cities ;  but  the  friends  of  prohibition  would  say,  — 

"  We  can't  wait  for  such  tedious  processes ;  we  must 
have  something  which  will  do  it  quick,"  as  in  Maine, 
where,  after  twenty-five  years  of  prohibition,  the  official 
reports  of  the  State  officers,  elected  on  the  temperance 
ticket,  show  that  the  number  of  insane  through  intem- 
perance, and  the  number  of  arrests  for  drunkenness,  have 
constantly,  and  of  late  rapidly,  increased  under  prohibi- 
tory law. 

The  Washingtoriian  temperance  movement  actually 
saved  three  hundred  thousand  drunkards,  and  created 
a  vital  temperance  sentiment  throughout  the  civilized 
world ;  but  prohibitionists  declare,  "  We  can't  depend 
upon  such  tedious  processes.  We  dust  have  some  agen- 
cy which  will  cure  at  once." 

Our  prohibitory  friends  frequently  declare  that  they 
are  warmly  in  favor  of  moral  suasion,  that  they  believe 
love  is  the  great  remedy  for  the  evils  of  intemperance ; 
but  does  anybody  remember  ever  to  have  heard  any  one 
of  our  leading  prohibitionists  really  advocate  anything 
but  force  ?  I  am  free  to  say  that  I  never  have.  Are 
any  of  our  leading  prohibitionists  made  on  the  moral 
suasion  or  love  plans  ? 

How  silly  to  concentrate  this  grand  temperance  move- 
ment upon  an  effort  to  make  drinkers  go  round  an  extra 
square,  or  compel  them  to  go  to  a  drug  store,  or  grocery, 
or  agency.  Of  course  everybody  knows  that  these  diffi- 
culties only  whet  the  appetite,  only  lead  to  a  thousand 
expedients  to  overcome  the  obstacles.  Everybody 
knows,  or  ought  to  know  enough  of  human  nature  to  see 
that  private  drinking  clubs,  and  a  hundred  and  one  other 
dodges,  will  lead  a  great  many  persons  who  would  not 


•       THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  101 

indulge  in  what  is  vulgarly  called  "  perpendicular  dimfe-  •• 
ing/7  into  a  passion  for  drink. 

I  have  never  heard  reasonable  beings  talk  such 
nonsense  as  when  they  propose  to  turn  this  great  tem- 
perance reform,  the  glory  of  the  century,  into  an  effort 
to  shut  up  a  certain  class  of  opep  ,drin]dng  places,; 
really  pretending  to  believe  that  thirs%Macn;wlio,  stic^'&t 
nothing,  who  would  sacrifice  'everything; on  eai;th >tp  get, 
drink,  who  think  of  nothing  else  day 'or  iliglit^Vill/if : 
they  fail  to  find  their  drink  in  the  old,  familiar  places, 
quit  looking  for  it,  and  become  sober  citizens. 

Alcohol  must  be  sold  in  a  great  many  places,  and  for 
a  great  variety  of  purposes.  A  victim  of  the  alcoholic 
appetite  wants  nothing  better.  Diluted  alcohol  is  better 
than  most  of  the  spirituous  liquors.  Is  anybody  foolish 
enough  to  believe  that  a  man  who  would  crawl  a  mile 
on  his  hands  and  knees  for  drink,  would  fail  in  obtaining 
alcohol  enough  to  feed  his  appetite  ?  And  this  is  the 
only  class  of  drinkers  that  the  prohibitory  law  hits.  Re- 
spectable people  can  obtain  through  the  groceries,  and 
drug-stores,  and  clubs,  as  much  of  any  sort  of  liquors  as, 
they  please.  The  prohibitory  law  is  directed  practically 
against  poor  creatures,  already  the  bound  victims  of 
appetite. 

Now  let  us  suppose  it  were  possible  to  close  retail 
drinking- places  by  law  (though  the  result  of  the  deter- 
mined effort  in  Maine  shows  it  to  be  impracticable),  what 
would  be  accomplished  ?  Why,  the  lowest  class  of 
drinkers  could  not  find  their  drinks  at  five  or  ten  cents 
in  the  old  places.  But  surely  no  man  is  weak  enough  to 
think  that  they  cannot  obtain  the  stuff  in  a  bottle,  either 
by  personal  application,  or  through  a  friend,  and  get  as 
much  in  this  way  for  ten  cents  as  they  generally  get  at 
retail  for  thirtjr  cents. 


102  THE   TRUE  SOLUTION  OF 

But  it  is  asked,  What  is  the  real  secret  of  the  popu- 
larity of  the  prohibitory  law  ?  I  would  answer,  — 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  a  disposition,  among  all 
governments,  to  trench  upon  the  rights  of  the  people, 
and  especially  upon  the  rights  of  the  helpless  portions. 
The  history,  of  Legislation  upen  the  rights  of  women,  is  a 
paijcful,  ,nOi;  to-  s§iy«  shocking,  illustration  of  this  tendency. 
Tbe.rigk.t^of  drinking  men  are  recklessly  disregarded. 
They  arc  victims  of  a  wretched  vice,  and  their  vice  leads 
to  crime  and  expense,  but  their  rights  are  as  inaliena- 
ble, and  should  be  held  as  sacred,  as  the  rights  of  any 
class  of  the  people.  It  is  a  most  dangerous  step  to  dis- 
regard the  rights  even  of  that  class  of  our  citizens. 

In  the  second  place,  it  is  a  very  nice,  dignified  method 
of  conducting  the  temperance  movement.  It  is  hard 
work,  and  disagreeable  work,  to  go  down  into  the  gutters, 
and  slums,  and  dens,  as  in  the  Washingtonian  days,  and 
put  the  arms  of  our  fraternal  love  about  our  unfortunate 
and  wretched  brothers.  It  soils  our  clothes  and  inter- 
feres with  our  pleasures,  but  it  is  a  very  easy  thing  to 
frame  a  law  which  grandly  expresses  our  sovereign  dis- 
approbation and  detestation  of  a  vice,  and  then  direct 
the  constable  to  attend  to  it. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  evils  of  in- 
temperance. More  should  be  done  to  remove  these  evils 
in  one  year,  than  has  been  done  in  a  century.  That  we 
should  pretend  to  be  a  Christian  people,  and  give  our- 
selves to  money-making,  and  fashion,  and  pleasure, 
while  the  untold  multitude  of  the  victims  of  intemper- 
ance sink  into  their  graves  in  wailing  and  sorrow,  at  our 
very  feet,  is,  before  heaven,  a  crying  shame.  This  black 
tide  may  be  turned  back  —  it  must  be  turned  back. 

Now,  what  do  prohibitionists  propose  to  do  ? 


THE   TEMPERANCE  QUESTION.  103 

In  the  first  place  they  do  not  propose  to  punish  gro- 
cers for  selling  liquors  for  cooking  purposes  ;  druggists 
for  selling  liquors  for  medicinal  purposes ;  they  do  not 
propose  to  punish  people  for  keeping  liquors  in  their 
own  houses,  drinking  it  themselves,  and  treating  their 
friends ;  they  do  not  propose  to  interfere  with  the  organ- 
ization of  drinking  clubs,  a  sort  of  institution  which  has 
led  thousands  of  the  better  class  of  young  men  (who 
would  never  have  drank  at  open  bars)  to  become  habitual 
drinkers ;  they  do  not  propose  to  interfere  with  the 
keeping  of  alcohol  and  other  spirits,  on  every  hand, 
where  these  things  are  used  for  a  hundred  different  pur- 
poses ;  they  do  not  propose  to  interfere  with  these  and 
twenty  other  open  doors  to  drink,  because  they  know 
that  all  such  interference  is  impracticable  ;  but  what  they 
do  propose  to  do  is,  to  forbid  and  punish  the  sale  of  drink 
in  grog-shops.  As  I  have  shown  in  another  part  of  this 
work,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  the  complete  enforce- 
ment of  this  prohibitory  law  would  not,  after  a  few 
months,  actually  increase  the  amount  of  liquors  con- 
sumed ;  but  let  us  assume  that  the  quantity  drank  would 
be  decreased,  is  the  percentage  of  the  evil  which  can  be 
thus  removed,  a  case  like  an  armed  invasion,  or  the  prev- 
alence of  small-pox,  or  a  great  conflagration,  where  the 
public  safety  may  ride  down  individual  rights  ? 

There  are  some  men  who  seem  to  think  that  they  were 
born  to  control  other  men.  They  are  always  asking, 
"  What  ought  somebody  else  to  do  ?  "  and  if  that  some- 
body won't  do  it,  "  How  shall  we  compel  him  ?  " 

They  proceed  in  this  way :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  saints  should  govern  the  world. 

Resolved,  That  we  are  the  saints. 

They  are  always  down  on  sinners. 


104  THE   TEMPERANCE   QUESTION. 

Our  Puritan  fathers  were  opposed  to  bear-fights,  but 
the  reason  they  gave  was  curious.  It  was  not  that  the 
bears  would  suffer,  but  that  sinners  enjoyed  it. 

I  know  a  man  who  does  not  reside  in  Boston,  but 
who  always  comes  to  our  city  on  the  occasion  of  any 
important  gathering  of  tfre  friends  of  prohibition. 
I  have  never  seen  that  man,  except  he  was  in  a  public 
meeting,  or  at  the  dinner  table,  that  he  was  not  smok- 
ing. I  have  been  told  by  a  friend  of  his,  that  he  does 
about  sixteen  strong  cigars  a  day.  I  do  not  know  a 
man  in  the  State  who  is  a  more  determined  Prohibi- 
tionist. Some  people  seem  to  have  a  remarkable  facility 
for  discovering  other  people's  vices.  Perhaps  that  is 
the  natural  order  —  it  certainly  is  the  general  one.  Per- 
haps it  was  intended  that  we  should  neglect  the  beam  in 
our  own  eye,  and  devote  ourselves  to  removing  the  mote 
in  our  brother's  eye.  But  if  that  is  the  natural  order, 
we  ought  to  employ  reason  and  persuasion  in  our  efforts 
to  cure  the  vices  of  our  fellows. 

I  trust  I  shall  not  be  misunderstood,  when  I  suggest, 
that  if  the  friends  of  Prohibition  throughout  the  country 
would  give  an  hour  every  evening,  after  supper,  to  visit- 
ing, in  the  old  Washingtonian  brotherly  spirit,  their 
neighbors  who  may  be  the  victims  of  drink,  they  would 
accomplish  more  for  the  cause  of  temperance  in  a  month, 
than  the  prohibitory  liquor  law  has  achieved  in  twenty 
years.  And  if,  in  addition  to  these  calls  on  their  drinking 
neighbors,  they  would  encourage  their  wives  to  wait 
upon  rum-sellers,  in  such  manner  and  spirit  as  in  their 
judgment,  as  ladies,  might  seem  best,  —  men  and  women, 
thus  working  together,  would  make  short  work  of  the 
rum  curse. 


SECOND. 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 


A  VINDICATION  OF  MORAL  LIBERTY. 


1ST  O  T  E 


IN  this  argument  the  distinction  between  vice  and 
crime  is  fundamental.     It  is  important  that  this  distinc- 
tion should  be  stated  tersely,  and  in  the  technicalities 
-and  formulas  of  the  lawyer. 

I  have,  therefore,  requested  a  legal  friend  to  do  it  for 
me.  And  he  has  kindly  contributed  the  following  essay, 
which  seems  to  me  to  cover  the  whole  ground,  and  to 
show  the  correctness  of  the  principle  in  all  its  applica- 
tions. It  seems  to  me  to  be  not  only  a  clearly  legal 
statement  of  the  question,  but  also  a  truly  philosophical 
view  of  a  man's  relations  to  government,  and  to  his 
fellow-men ;  and  to  show  that  on  no  other  principle  can 
there  be  any  such  thing  as  personal  liberty,  or  rights 
of  property,  except  such  as  mere  arbitrary  power  may 
see  fit  to  concede. 

108 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 


I. 

TTICES  are  those  acts  by  which  a  man  harms  himself  or 

V     his  property. 

Crimes  are  those  acts  by  which  one  man  harms  the 
person  or  property  of  another. 

Vices  are  simply  the  errors  which  a  man  makes  in  his 
search  after  his  own  happiness.  Unlike  crimes,  they 
imply  no  malice  toward  others,  and  no  interference  with 
their  persons  or  property. 

In  vices,  the  very  essence  of  crime  —  that  is,  the  de- 
sign to  injure  the  person  or  property  of  another  —  is 
wanting. 

.  It  is  a  maxim  of  the  law  that  there  can  be  no  crime 
without  a  criminal  intent ;  that  is,  without  the  intent  to 
invade  the  person  or  property  of  another.  But  no  one 
ever  practises  a  vice  with  any  such  criminal  intent.  He 
practises  his  vice  for  his  own  happiness  solely,  and  not 
from  any  malice  toward  others. 

Unless  this  clear  distinction  between  vices  and  crimes 
be  made  and  recognized  by  the  laws,  there  can  be  on 
earth  no  such  thing  as  individual  right,  liberty,  or  prop- 
erty ;  no  such  things  as  the  right  of  one  man  to  the  con- 
trol of  his  own  person  and  property,  and  the  correspond- 
ing and  co-equal  rights  of  another  man  to  the  control  of 
his  own  person  and  property. 

109 


110  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

For  a  government  to  declare  a  vice  to  be  a  crime,  and 
to  punish  it  as  such,  is  an  attempt  to  falsify  the  very  na- 
ture of  things.  It  is  as  absurd  as  it  would  be  to  declare 
truth  to  be  falsehood,  or  falsehood  truth. 


ii. 

TWERY  voluntary  act  of  a  man's  life  is  either  virtuous 
J_J  or  vicious.  That  is  to  say,  it  is  either  in  Accordance, 
or  in  conflict,  with  those  natural  laws  of  matter  and  mind, 
on  which  his  physical,  mental,  and  emotional  health  and 
well-being  depend.  In  other  words,  every  act  of  his 
life  tends,  on  the  whole,  either  to  his  happiness,  or  to  his 
unhappiness.  No  single  act  in  his  whole  existence  is 
indifferent. 

Furthermore,  each  human  being  differs  in  his  physical, 
mental,  and  emotional  constitution,  and  also  in  the  circum- 
stances by  which  he  is  surrounded,  from  every  other 
human  being.  Many  acts,  therefore,  that  are  virtuous, 
and  tend  to  happiness,  in  the  case  of  one  person,  are 
vicious,  and  tend  to  unhappiness,  in  the  case  of  another 
person. 

Many  acts,  also,  that  are  virtuous,  and  tend  to  happi- 
ness, in  the  case  of  one  man,  at  one  time,  and  under  one 
set  of  circumstances,  are  vicious,  and  tend  to  unhappiness, 
in  the  case  of  the  same  man,  at  another  time,  and  under 
other  circumstances. 


in. 

TO  know  what  actions  are  virtuous,  and  what  vicious. 
—  in  other  words,  to  know  what  actions  tend,  on  the 
waole,  to  happiness,  and  what  to  unhappiness,  —  in  the 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  Ill 

case  of  each  and  every  man,  in  each  and  all  the  condi- 
tions in  which  they  may  severally  be  placed,  is  the  pro- 
foundest  and  most  complex  study  to  which  the  greatest 
human  mind  ever  has  been,  or  ever  can  be,  directed.  It 
is,  nevertheless,  the  constant  study  to  which  each  and 
every  man  —  the  humblest  in  intellect  as  well  as  the 
greatest — is  necessarily  driven  by  the  desires  and  neces- 
sities of  his  own  existence.  It  is  also  the  study  in  which 
each  and  every  person,  from  his  cradle  to  his  grave,  must 
necessarily  form  his  own  conclusions  ;  because  no  one  else 
knows  or  feels,  or  can  know  or  feel,  as  he  knows  and 
feels,  the  desires  and  necessities,  the  hopes,  and  fears, 
and  impulses  of  his  own  nature,  or  the  pressure  of  his 
own  circumstances. 


IV. 

IT  is  not  often  possible  to  say  of  those  acts  that  are 
called  vices,  that  they  really  are  vices,  except  in  de- 
gree. That  is,  it  is  difficult  to  say  of  any  actions,  or 
courses  of  action,  that  are  called  vices,  that  they  really 
would  have  been  vices,  if  they  had  stopped  short  of  a  certain 
point.  The  question  of  virtue  or  vice,  therefore,  in  all 
such  cases,  is  a  question  of  quantity  and  degree,  and  not 
of  the  intrinsic  character  of  any  single  act,  by  itself.  This 
fact  adds  to  the  difficulty,  not  to  say  the  impossibility, 
of  any  one's  —  except  each  individual  for  himself —  draw- 
ing any  accurate  line,  or  anything  like  any  accurate  line, 
between  virtue  and  vice  ;  that  is,  of  telling  where  virtue 
ends,  and  vice  begins.  And  this  is  another  reason  why 
this  whole  question  of  virtue  and  vice  should  be  left  for 
each  person  to  settle  for  himself. 


112  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 


V. 

YICES  are  usually  pleasurable,  at  least  for  the  time 
being,  and  often  do  not  disclose  themselves  as  vices-, 
by  their  effects,  until  after  they  have  been  practised  for 
many  years ;  perhaps  for  a  lifetime.  To  many,  perhaps 
most,  of  those  who  practise  them,  they  do  not  disclose 
themselves  as  vices  at  all  during  life.  Virtues,  on  the 
other  hand,  often  appear  so  harsh  and  rugged,  they  re- 
quire the  sacrifice  of  so  much  present  happiness,  at  least, 
and  the  results,  which  alone  prove  them  to  be  virtues, 
are  often  so  distant  and  obscure,  in  fact,  so  absolutely  in- 
visible to  the  minds  of  many,  especially  of  the  young, 
that,  from  the  very  nature  of  things,  there  can  be  no  uni- 
versal, or  even  general,  knowledge  that  they  are  virtues. 
In  truth,  the  studies  of  profound  philosophers  have  been 
expended  —  if  not  wholly  in  vain,  certainly  with  very 
small  results  —  in  efforts  to  draw  the  lines  between  the 
virtues  and  the  vices. 

If,  then,  it  be  so  difficult,  so  nearly  impossible,  in  most 
cases,  to  determine  what  is,  and  what  is  not,  vice  ;  and 
especially  if  it  be  so  difficult,  in  nearly  all  cases,  to  de- 
termine where  virtue  ends,  and  vice  begins  ;  and  if  these 
questions,  which  no  one  can  really  and  truly  determine 
for  anybody  but  himself,  are  not  to  be  left  free  and  .open 
for  experiment  by  all,  each  person  is  deprived  of  the 
highest  of  all  his  rights  as  a  human  being,  to  wit :  his 
right  to  inquire,  investigate,  reason,  try  experiments, 
judge,  and  ascertain  for  himself,  what  is,  to  him,  virtue, 
and  what  is,  to  him,  vice ;  in  other  words,  what,  on  the 
whole,  conduces  to  his  happiness,  and  what,  on  the  whole, 
tends  to  his  unhappiness.  If  this  great  right  is  not  to  be 
left  free  and  open  to  all,  then  each  man's  whole  right,  as 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  113 

a  reasoning  human  being,  to  "  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness/'  is  denied  him. 


VI. 

¥E  all  come  into  the  world  in  ignorance  of  ourselves, 
and  of  everything  around  us.  By  a  fundamental 
law  of  our  natures  we  are  all  constantly  impelled  by  the 
desire  of  happiness,  and  the  fear  of  pain.  But  we  have 
everything  to  learn,  as  to  what  will  give  us  happiness, 
and  save  us  from  pain.  No  two  of  us  are  wholly  alike, 
either  physically,  mentally,  or  emotionally;  or,  conse- 
quently, in  our  physical,  mental,  or  emotional  require- 
ments for  the  acquisition  of  happiness,  and  the  avoidance 
of  unhappiness.  No  one  of  us,  therefore,  can  learn  this 
indispensable  lesson  of  happiness  and  unhappiness,  of 
virtue  and  vice,  for  another.  Each  must  learn  it  for 
himself.  To  learn  it,  he  must  be  at  liberty  to  try  all 
experiments  that  commend  themselves  to  his  judgment. 
Some  of  his  experiments  succeed,  and,  because  they  suc- 
ceed, are  called  virtues ;  others  fail,  and,  because  they 
fail,  are  called  vices.  He  gathers  wisdom  from  his  fail- 
ures, as  well  as  from  his  successes ;  from  his  so-called 
vices,  as  from  his  so-called  virtues.  He  gathers  wisdom 
as  much  from  his  failures  as  from  his  successes ;  from  his 
so-called  vices,  as  from  his  so-called  virtues.  Both  are 
necessary  to  his  acquisition  of  that  knowledge  —  of  his 
own  nature,  and  of  the  world  around  him,  and  of  their 
adaptations  or  non-adaptations  to  each  other  — which  shall 
show  him  how  happiness  is  acquired,  and  pain  avoided. 
And,  unless  he  can  be  permitted  to  try  these  experi- 
ments to  his  own  satisfaction,  he  is  restrained  from  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  and,  consequently,  from  pur- 
suing the  great  purpose  and  duty  of  his  life. 


114  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 


VII. 

A  MAN  is  under  no  obligation  to  take  anybody's  word, 
or  yield  to  anybody's  authority,  on  a  matter  so  vital 
to  himself,  and  in  regard  to  which  no  one  else  has,  or  can 
have,  any  such  interest  as  he.  He  cannot,  if  he  would, 
safely  rely  upon  the  opinions  of  other  men,  because  he 
finds  that  the  opinions  of  other  men  do  not  agree.  Cer- 
tain actions,  or  courses  of  action,  have  been  practised  by 
many  millions  of  men,  through  successive  generations, 
and  have  been  held  by  them  to  be,  on  the  whole,  con- 
ducive to  happiness,  and  therefore  virtuous.  Other  men, 
in  other  ages  or  countries,  or  under  other  conditions, 
have  held,  as  the  result  of  their  experience  and  observa- 
tion, that  these  actions  tended,  on  the  whole,  to  unhappi- 
ness,  and  were  therefore  vicious.  The  question  of  virtue 
or  vice,  as  already  remarked  in  a  previous  section,  has 
also  bee'n,  in  most  minds,  a  question  of  degree ;  that  is, 
of  the  extent  to  which  certain  actions  should  be  carried ; 
and  not  of  the  intrinsic  character  of  any  single  act,  by 
itself.  The  questions  of  virtue  and  vice  have  therefore 
been  as  various,  and,  in  fact,  as  infinite,  as  the  varieties 
of  mind,  body,  and  condition  of  the  different  individuals 
inhabiting  the  globe.  And  the  experience  of  ages  has 
left  an  infinite  number  of  these  questions  unsettled.  In 
fact,  it  can  scarcely  be  sdid  to  have  settled  any  of  them. 


VIII. 

IN  the  midst  of  this  endless  variety  of  opinion,  what 
man,  or  what  body  of  men,  has  the  right  to  say,  in 
regard  to  any  particular  action,  or  course  of  action,  "  We 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  115 

have  tried  this  experiment,  and  determined  every  ques- 
tion involved  in  it?  We  have  determined  it,  not  only  for 
ourselves,  but  for  all  others  ?  And,  as  to  all  those  who 
are  weaker  than  we,  we  will  coerce  them  to  act  in  obe- 
dience to  our  conclusion  ?  We  will  suffer  no  further  ex- 
periment or  inquiry  by  any  one,  and,  consequently,  no 
further  acquisition  of  knowledge  by  anybody?" 

Who  are  the  men  who  have  the  right  to  say  this  ? 
Certainly  there  are  none  such.  The  men  who  really  do 
say  it,  are  either  shameless  impostors  and  tyrants,  who 
would  stop  the  progress  of  knowledge,  and  usurp  absolute 
control  over  the  minds  and  bodies  of  their  fellow-men ; 
and  are  therefore  to  be  resisted  instantly,  and  to  the  last 
extent ;  or  they  are  themselves  too  ignorant  of  their  own 
weaknesses,  and  of  their  true  relations  to  other  men,  to 
be  entitled  to  any  other  consideration  than  sheer  pity  or 
contempt. 

We  know,  however,  that  there  are  such  men  as  these 
in  the  world.  Some  of  them  attempt  to  exercise  their 
power  only  within  a  small  sphere,  to  wit,  upon  their  chil- 
dren, their  neighbors,  their  townsmen,  and  their  country- 
men. Others  attempt  to  exercise  it  on  a  larger  scale. 
For  example,  an  old  man  at  Rome,  aided  by  a  few  subor- 
dinates, attempts  to  decide  all  questions  of  virtue  and 
vice;  that  is,  of  truth  or  falsehood,  especially  in  matters 
of  religion.  He  claims  to  know  and  teach  what  religious 
ideas  and  practices  are  conducive,  or  fatal,  to  a  man's 
happiness,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  in  that  which  is 
to  come.  He  claims  to  be  miraculously  inspired  for  the 
performance  of  this  work  ;  thus  virtually  acknowledging, 
like  a  sensible  man,  that  nothing  short  of  miraculous  in- 
spiration would  qualify  him  for  it.  This  miraculous  in- 
spiration, however,  has  been  ineffectual  to  enable  him  to 
settle  more  than  a  very  few  questions.  The  most  impor- 
tant of  these  are,  first,  that  the  highest  religious  virtue 
8 


116  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

to  which  common  mortals  can  attain,  is  an  implicit  belief 
in  his  (the  pope's)  infallibility!  and,  secondly,  that  the 
blackest  vices  of  which  they  can  be  guilty,  are  to  believe 
and  declare  that  he  is  only  a  man  like  the  rest  of  them ! 

It  required  some  fifteen  or  eighteen  hundred  years  to 
enable  him  to  reach  definite  conclusions  on  these  two 
vital  points.  Yet  it  would  seem  that  the  first  of  these 
must  necessarily  be  preliminary  to  his  settlement  of  any 
other  questions ;  because,  until  his  own  infallibility  is 
determined,  he  can  authoritatively  decide  nothing  else. 
He  has,  however,  heretofore  attempted  or  pretended  to 
settle  a  few  others.  And  he  may,  perhaps,  attempt  or 
pretend  to  settle  a  few  more  in  the  future,  if  he  shall 
continue  to  find  anybody  to  listen  to  him.  But  his  suc- 
cess, thus  far,  certainly  does  not  encourage  the  belief 
that  he  will  be  able  to  settle  all  questions  of  virtue  and 
vice,  even  in  his  peculiar  department  of  religion,  in  time 
to  meet  the  necessities  of  mankind.  He,  or  his  succes- 
sors, will  undoubtedly  be  compelled,  at  no  distant  day,  to 
acknowledge  that  he  has  undertaken  a  task  to  which  all 
his  miraculous  inspiration  was  inadequate ;  and  that,  of 
necessity,  each  human  being  must  be  left  to  settle  all 
questions  of  this  kind  for  himself.  And  it  is  not  unrea- 
sonable to  expect  that  all  other  popes,  in  other  and  lesser 
spheres,  will  some  time  have  cause  to  come  to  the  same 
conclusion.  No  one,  certainly,  not  claiming  supernatural 
inspiration,  should  undertake  a  task  to  which  obviously 
nothing  less  than  such  inspiration  is  adequate.  And, 
clearly,  no  one  should  surrender  his  own  judgment  to  the 
teachings  of  others,  unless  he  be  first  convinced  that 
these  others  have  something  more  than  ordinary  human 
knowledge  on  this  subject. 

If  those  persons,  who  fancy  themselves  gifted  with  both 
the  power  and  the  right  to  define  and  punish  other  men's 
vices,  would  but  turn  their  thoughts  inwardly,  they  would 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  117 

probably  find  that  they  have  a  great  work  to  do  at  home  ; 
and  that,  when  that  shall  have  been  completed,  they  will 
be  little  disposed  to  do  more  towards  correcting  the  vices 
of  others,  than  simply  to  give  to  others  the  results  of 
their  experience  and  observation.  In  this  sphere  their 
labors  may  possibly  be  useful ;  but,  in  the  sphere  of  in- 
fallibility and  coercion,  they  will  probably,  for  well-known 
reasons,  meet  with  even  less  success  in  the  future  than 
such  men  have  met  with  in  the  past. 


IX. 

IT  is  now  obvious,  from  the  reasons  already  given,  that 
government  would  be  utterly  impracticable,  if  it 
were  to  take  cognizance  of  vices,  and  punish  them  as 
crimes.  Every  human  being  has  his  or  her  vices. 
Nearly  all  men  have  a  great  many.  And  they  are  of  all 
kinds  ;  physiological,  mental,  emotional ;  religious,  social, 
commercial,  industrial,  economical,  &c.,  &c.  If  govern- 
ment is  to  take  cognizance  of  any  of  these  vices,  and 
punish  them  as  crimes,  then,  to  be  consistent,  it  must 
take  cognizance  of  all,  and  punish  all  impartially.  The 
consequence  would  be,  that  everybody  would  be  in 
prison  for  his  or  her  vices.  There  would  be  no  one  left 
outside  to  lock  the  doors  upon  those  within.  In  fact, 
courts  enough  could  not  be  found  to  try  the  offenders, 
nor  prisons  enough  built  to  hold  them.  All  human  in- 
dustry in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  and  even  in 
acquiring  the  means  of  subsistence,  would  be  arrested  ; 
for  we  should  all  be  under  constant  trial  or  imprisonment 
for  our  vices.  But  even  if  it  were  possible  to  imprison 
all  the  vicious,  our  knowledge  of  human  nature  tells  us 
that,  as  a  general  rule,  they  would  be  far  more  vicious  in 
prison  than  they  ever  have  been  out  of  it. 


118  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 


X. 

A  GOVERNMENT  that  shall  punish  all  vices  impar- 
tially is  so  obviously  an  impossibility,  that  nobody 
was  ever  found,  or  ever  will  be  found,  foolish  enough  to 
propose  it.  The  most  that  any  one  proposes  is,  that  gov- 
ernment shall  punish  some  one,  or  at  most  a  few,  of  what 
he  esteems  the  grossest  of  them.  But  this  discrimina- 
tion is  an  utterly  absurd,  illogical,  and  tyrannical  one. 
What  right  has  any  body  of  men  to  say,  "  The  vices  of 
other  men  we,  will  punish ;  but  our  own  vices  nobody 
shall  punish?  We  will  restrain  other  men  from  seeking 
their  own  happiness,  according  to  their  own  notions  of 
it ;  but  nobody  shall  restrain  us  from  seeking  our  own 
happiness,  according  to  our.  own  notions  of  it  ?  We  will 
restrain  other  men  from  acquiring  any  experimental 
knowledge  of  what  is  conducive  or  necessary  to  their 
own  happiness  ;  but  nobody  shall  restrain  us  from  acquir- 
ing an  experimental  knowledge  of  what  is  conducive  or 
necessary  to  our  own  happiness?" 

Nobody  but  knaves  or  blockheads  ever  thinks  of  making 
such  absurd  assumptions  as  these.  And  yet,  evidently, 
it  is  only  upon  such  assumptions  that  anybody  can  claim 
the  right  to  punish  the  vices  of  others,  and  at  the  same 
time  claim  exemption  from  punishment  for  his  own. 


XI. 

SUCH  a  thing  as  a  government,  formed  by  voluntary 
association,  wtmld  never  have  been  thought  of,  if  the 
object  proposed  had  been  the  punishment  of  all  vices, 
impartially  j  because  nobody  wants  such  an  institution, 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  119 

or  would  voluntarily  submit  to  it.  But  a  government, 
formed  by  voluntary  association,  for  the  punishment  of 
all  crimes,  is  a  reasonable  matter;  because  everybody 
wants  protection  for  himself  against  all  crimes  by  others, 
and  also  acknowledges  the  justice  of  his  own  punishment, 
if  he  commits  a  crime. 


XII. 

IT  is  a  natural  impossibility  that  a  government  should 
have  a  right  to  punish  men  for  their  vices;  because 
ii^  is  impossible  that  a  government  shoulc  have  any 
rights,  except  such  as  the  individuals  composing  it  had 
previously  had,  as  individuals.  They  could  not  delegate 
to  a  government  any  rights  which  they  did  not  them- 
selves possess.  They  could  not  contribute  to  the  gov- 
ernment any  rights,  except  such  as  they  themselves 
possessed  as  individuals.  Now,  nobody  but  a  fool  or  an 
impostor  pretends  that  he,  as  an  individual,  has  a  right 
to  punish  other  men  for  their  vices.  But  anybody  and 
everybody  have  a  natural  right,  as  individuals,  to  punish 
other  men  for  their  crimes  ;  for  everybody  has  a  natural 
right,  not  only  to  defend  his  own  person  and  property 
against  aggressors,  but  also  to  go  to  the  assistance  and 
defence  of  everybody  else,  whose  person  or  property  is 
invaded.  The  natural  right  of  each  individual  to  defend 
his  own  person  and  property  against  an  aggressor,  and 
to  go  to  the  assistance  and  defence  of  every  one  else 
whose  person  or  property  is  invaded,  is  a  right  without 
which  men  could  not  exist  on  the  earth.  And  govern- 
ment has  no  rightful  existence,  except  in  so  far  as  it 
embodies,  and  is  limited  by,  this  natural  right  of  indi- 
viduals. But  the  idea  that  each  man  has  a  natural  right 
to  sit  in  judgment  on  all  his  neighbor's  actions,  and 


120  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

decide  what  are  virtues,  and  what  are  vices,  —  that  is, 
what  contribute  to  that  neighbors  happiness,  and  what 
do  not,  —  and  to  punish  him  for  all  that  do  not  contribute 
to  it,  is  what  no  one  ever  had  the  impudence  or  folly  to 
assert.  It  is  only  those  who  claim  that  government  has 
some  rightful  power,  ivhicli  no  individual  or  individuals 
ever  did,  or  ever  could,  delegate  to  it,  that  claim  that 
government  has  any  rightful  power  to  punish  vices* 

It  will  do  for  a  pope  or  a  king  —  who  claims  to  have 
received  direct  authority  from  Heaven,  to  rule  over  his 
fellow-men  —  to  claim  the  right,  as  the  vicegerent  of  God, 
to  punish  men  for  their  vices ;  but  it  is  a  sheer  and  utter 
absurdity  for  any  government,  claiming  to  derive  its 
power  wholly  from  the  grant  of  the  governed,  to  claim 
any  such  power;  because  everybody  knows  that  the 
governed  never  would  grant  it.  For  them  to  grant  it 
would  be  an  absurdity,  because  it  would  be  granting 
away  their  own  right  to  seek  their  own  happiness  ;  since 
to  grant  away  their  right  to  judge  of  what  will  be  for 
their  happiness,  is  to  grant  away  all  their  right  to  pursue 
their  own  happiness. 


XIII. 

¥E  can  now  see  how  simple,  easy,  and  reasonable  a 
matter  is  a  government  for  the  punishment  of 
crimes,  as  compared  with  one  for  the  punishment  of 
vices.  Crimes  are  few,  and  easily  distinguished  from  all 
other  acts  ;  and  mankind  are  generally  agreed  as  to  what 
acts  are  crimes.  Whereas  vices  are  innumerable ;  and 
no  two  persons  are  agreed,  except  in  comparatively  few 
cases,  as  to  what  are  vices.  Furthermore,  everybody 
wishes  to  be  protected,  in  his  person  and  property, 
against  the  aggressions  of  other  men.  But  nobody  wishes 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  121 

to  be  protected,  either  in  his  person  or  property,  against 
himself;  because  it  is  contrary  to  the  fundamental  laws 
of  human  nature  itself,  that  any  one  should  wish  to  harm 
himself.  He  only  wishes  to  promote  his  own  happiness, 
and  to  be  his  own  judge  as  to  what  will  promote,  and 
does  promote,  his  own  happiness.  This  is  what  every 
one  wants,  and  has  a  right  to,  as  a  human  being.  And 
though  we  all  make  many  mistakes,  and  necessarily  must 
make  them,  from  the  imperfection  of  our  knowledge,  yet 
these  mistakes  are  no  argument  against  the  right ;  be- 
cause they  all  tend  to  give  us  the  very  knowledge  we 
need,  and  are  in  pursuit  of,  and  can  get  in  no  other  way. 

The  object  aimed  at  in  the  punishment  of  crimes,  there- 
fore, is  not  only  wholly  different  from,  but  it  is  directly 
opposed  to,  that  aimed  at  in  the  punishment  of  vices. 

The  object  aimed  at  in  the  punishment  of  crimes  is  to 
secure,  to  each  and  every  man  alike,  the  fullest  liberty 
he  possibly  can  have  —  consistently  with  the  equal  rights^ 
of  others  —  to  pursue  his  own  happiness,  under  the 
guidance  of  his  own  judgment,  and  by  the  use  of  his  own 
property.  On  the  other  hand,  the  object  aimed  at  in  the 
punishment  of  vices,  is  to  deprive  every  man  of  his  natural 
right  and  liberty  to  pursue  his  own  happiness,  under  the 
guidance  of  his  own  judgment,  and  by  the  use  of  his  own 
property. 

These  two  objects,  then,  are  directly  opposed  to  each 
other.  They  are  as  directly  opposed  to  each  other  as 
are  light  and  darkness,  or  as  truth  and  falsehood,  or  as 
liberty  and  slavery.  They  are  utterly  incompatible  with 
each  other ;  and  to  suppose  the  two  to  be  embraced  in 
one  and  the  same  government,  is  an  absurdity,  an  impos- 
sibility. It  is  to  suppose  the  objects  of  a  government  to 
be  to  commit  crimes,  and  to  prevent  crimes  ;  to  destroy 
individual  liberty,  and  to  secure  individual  liberty. 


122  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 


XIV. 

"TT^INALLY,  on  this  point  of  individual  libert}' :  Every 
JL  man  must  necessarily  judge  and  determine  for  him- 
self as  to  what  is  conducive  and  necessary  to,  and  what 
is  destructive  of,  his  own  well-being ;  because,  if  he  omits 
to  perform  this  task  for  himself,  nobody  else  can  perform 
it  for  him.  And  nobody  else  will  even  attempt  to  per- 
form it  for  him,  except  in  very  few  cases.  Popes,  and 
priests,  and  kings  will  assume  to  perform  it  for  him,  in 
certain  cases,  if  permitted  to  do  so.  But  they  will,  in 
general,  perform  it  only  in  so  far  as  they  can  minister  to 
their  own  vices  and  crimes,  by  doing  it.  They  will,  in 
general,  perform  it  only  in  so  far  as  they  can  make  him 
their  fool  and  their  slave.  Parents,  with  better  motives, 
no  doubt,  than  the  others,  too  often  attempt  the  same 
work.  But  in  so  far  as  they  practise  coercion,  or  re- 
strain a  child  from  anything  not  really  and  seriously  dan- 
gerous to  himself,  they  do  him  a  harm,  rather  than  a  good. 
It  is  a  law  of  Nature  that  to  get  knowledge,  and  to 
incorporate  that  knowledge  into  his  own  being,  each 
individual  must  get  it  for  himself.  Nobody,  not  even  his 
parents,  can  tell  him  the  nature  of  fire,  so  that  he  will 
really  know  it.  He  must  himself  experiment  with  it,  and 
be  burnt  by  it,  before  he  can  know  it. 

Nature  knows,  a  thousand  times  better  than  any 
parent,  what  she  designs  each  individual  for,  what 
knowledge  he  requires,  and  how  he  must  get  it.  She 
knows  that  her  own  processes  for  communicating  that 
knowledge  are  not  only  the  best,  out  the  only  ones  that 
can  be  effectual. 

The  attempts  of  parents  to  make  their  children  virtu- 
ous are  generally  little  else  than  attempts  to  keep  them 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  123 

in  ignorance  of  vice.  They  are  little  else  than  attempts 
to  teach  their  children  to  know  and  prefer  truth,  by 
keeping  them  in  ignorance  of  falsehood.  They  are  little 
else  than  attempts  to  make  them  seek  and  appreciate 
health,  by  keeping  them  in  ignorance  of  disease,  and  of 
everything  that  will  cause  disease.  They  are  little  else 
than  attempts  to  make  their  children  love  the  light,  by 
keeping  them  in  ignorance  of  darkness.  In  short,  they 
are  little  else  than  .attempts  to  make  their  children 
happy,  by  keeping  them  in  ignorance  of  everything  that 
causes  them  unhappiness. 

In  so  far  as  parents  can  really  aid  their  children  in  the 
latter's  search  after  happiness,  by  simply  giving  them 
the  results  of  their  (the  parents')  own  reason  and  expe- 
rience, it  is  all  very  well,  and  is  a  natural  and  appro- 
priate duty.  But  to  practise  coercion  in  matters  of 
which  the  children  are  reasonably  competent  to  judge 
for  themselves,  is  only  an  attempt  to  keep  them  in  igno- 
rance. And  this  is  as  much  a  tyranny,  and  as  much  a 
violation  of  the  children's  right  to  acquire  knowledge  for 
themselves,  and  such  knowledge  as  they  desire,  as  is 
the  same  coercion  when  practised  upon  older  persons. 
Such  coercion,  practised  upon  children,  is  a  denial  of 
their  right  to  develop  the  faculties  that  Nature  has  given 
them,  and  to  be  what  Nature  designs  them  to  be.  It  is  a 
denial  of  their  right  to  themselves,  and  to  the  use  of 
their  own  powers.  It  is  a  denial  of  their  right  to  acquire 
the  most  valuable  of  all  knowledge,  to  wit,  the  knowledge 
that  Nature,  the  great  teacher,  and  the  only  reliable 
teacher,  stands  ready  to  impart  to  them. 

The  results  of  such  coercion  are  not  to  make  the  chil- 
dren wise  or  virtuouk,  but  to  make  them  ignorant,  and  con- 
sequently weak  and  vicious  ;  and  to  perpetuate  through 
them,  from  age  to  age,  the  ignorance,  the  superstitions, 
the  vices,  and  the  crimes  of  the  parents.  This  is  proved 
by  every  page  of  the  world's  history. 


124  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

Those  who  hold  opinions  opposite  to  these,  are  those 
whose  false  and  vicious  theologies,  or  whose  own  vicious 
general  ideas,  have  taught  them  that  the  human  race  are 
naturally  given  to  evil,  rather  than  good ;  to  the  false, 
rather  than  the  true  ;  that  mankind  do  not  naturally  turn 
their  eyes  to  the  light ;  that  they  love  darkness,  rather 
than  light ;  and  that  they  find  their  happiness  only  in 
those  things  that  tend  to  their  misery. 


XV. 

BUT  these  men,  who  claim  that  government  shall  use 
its  power  to  prevent  vice,  will  say,  or  are  in  the 
habit  of  saying,  "  We  acknowledge  the  right  of  an  indi- 
vidual to  seek  his  own  happiness  in  his  own  way,  and 
consequently  to  be  as  vicious  as  he  pleases ;  we  only 
claim  that  government  shall  prohibit  the  sole  to  him  of 
those  articles  by  which  he  ministers  to  his  vice." 

The  answer  to  this  is,  that  the  simple  sale  of  any 
article  whatever  —  independently  of  the  use  that  is  to  be 
made  of  the  article  —  is  legally  a  perfectly  innocent  act. 
The  quality  of  the  act  of  sale  depends  wholly  upon  the 
quality  of  the  use  for  which  the  thing  is  sold.  If  the 
use  of  anything  is  virtuous  and  lawful,  then  the  sale  of 
it,  for  that  we,  is  virtuous  and  lawful.  If  the  use  is 
vicious,  then  the  sale  of  it,  for  that  use,  is  vicious.  If 
the  use  is  criminal,  then  the  sale  of  it,  for  that  use,  is 
criminal.  The  seller  is,  at  most,  only  an  accomplice  in 
the  use  that  is  to  be  made  of  the  article  sold,  whether 
the  use  be  virtuous,  vicious,  or  criminal.  Where  the  use 
is  criminal,  the  seller  is  an  accomplice  in  the  crime,  and 
punishable  as  such.  But  where  the  use  is  only  vicious, 
the  seller  is  only  an  accomplice  in  the  vice,  and  is  not 
punishable. 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  125 


XVI. 

BUT  it  will  be  asked,  "  Is  there  no  right,  on  the  part 
of  government,  to  arrest  the  progress  of  those  who 
are  .bent  on  self-destruction  ?  " 

The  answer  is,  that  government  has  no  rights  what- 
ever in  the  matter,  so  long  as  these  so-called  vicious 
persons  remain  sane,  compos  mentis,  capable  of  exercis- 
ing reasonable  discretion  and  self-control;  because,  so 
long  as  they  do  remain  sane,  they  must  be  allowed  to 
judge  and  decide  for  themselves  whether  their  so-called 
vices  really  are  vices  ;  whether  they  really  are  leading 
them  to  destruction ;  and  whether,  on  the  whole,  they 
will  go  there  or  not.  When  they  shall  become  insane, 
non  compos  mentis,  incapable  of  reasonable  discretion  or 
self-control,  their  friends  or  neighbors,  or  the  govern- 
ment, must  take  care  of  them,  and  protect  them  from 
harm,  and  against  all  persons  who  would  do  them  harm, 
in  the  same  way  as  if  their  insanity  had  come  upon  them 
from  any  other  cause  than  their  supposed  vices. 

But  because  a  man  is  supposed,  by  his  neighbors,  to 
be  on  the  way  to  self-destruction,  from  his  vices,  it  does 
not,  therefore,  follow  that  he  is  insane,  non  compos  mentis, 
incapable  of  reasonable  discretion  and  self-control,  within 
the  legal  meaning  of  those  terms.  Men«and  women  may 
be  addicted  to  very  gross  vices,  and  to  a  great  many  of 
them,  —  such  as  gluttony,  drunkenness,  prostitution, 
gambling,  prize-fighting,  tobacco-chewing,  smoking,  and 
snuffing,  opium-eating,  corset-wearing,  idleness,  waste 
of  property,  avarice,  hypocrisy,  &c.,  &c., —  and  still  be 
sane,  compos  mentis,  capable  of  reasonable  discretion  and 
self-control,  within  the  meaning  of  the  law.  And  so  long 
as  they  are  sane,  they  must  be  permitted  to  control 


126  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

themselves  and  their  property,  and  to  be  their  own 
judges  as  to  where  their  vices  will  finally  lead  them. 
It  may  be  hoped  by  the  lookers-on,  in  each  individual 
case,  that  the  vicious  person  will  see  the  end  to  which 
he  is  tending,  and  be  induced  to  turn  back.  But,  if  he 
chooses  to  go  on  to  what  other  men  call  destruction,  he 
must  be  permitted  to  do  so.  And  all  that  can  be  said 
of  him,  so  far  as  this  life  is  concerned,  is,  that  he  made  a 
great  mistake  in  his  search  after  happiness,  and  that 
others  will  do  well  to  take  warning  by  his  fate.  As  to 
what  may  be  his  condition  in  another  life,  that  is  a  theo- 
logical question  with  which  the  law,  in  this  world,  has  no 
more  to  do  than  it  has  with  any  other  theological  ques- 
tion, touching  men's  condition  in  a  future  life. 

If  it  be  asked  how  the  question  of  a  vicious  man's 
sanity  or  insanity  is  to  be  determined?  the  answer  is, 
that  it  is  to  be  determined  by  the  same  kinds  of  evidence 
as  is  the  sanity  or  insanity  of  those  who  are  called  virtu- 
ous ;  and  not  otherwise.  That  is,  by  the  same  kinds  of 
evidence  by  which  the  legal  tribunals  determine  whether 
a  man  should  be  sent  to  an  asylum  for  lunatics,  or 
whether  he  is  competent  to  make  a  will,  or  otherwise 
dispose  of  his  property.  Any  doubt  must  weigh  in  favor 
of  his  sanity,  as  in  all  other  cases,  and  not  of  his  in- 
sanity. 

If  a  person  really  does  become  insane,  non  compos 
mentis,  incapable  of  reasonable  discretion  or  self-control, 
it  is  then  a  crime,  on  the  part  of  other  men,  to  give  to 
him  or  sell  to  him,  the  means  of  self-injury.*  And  such 
a  crime  is  to  be  punished  like  any  other  crime. 

There  are  no  crimes  more  easily  punished,  no  cases  in 
which  juries  would  be  more  ready  to  convict,  than  those 


*  To  give  an  insane  man  a  knife,  or  any  other  weapon,  or  tiring,  by 
which  he  is  likely  to  injure  himself,  is  a  crime. 


VICES  'ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  127 

where  a  sane  person  should  sell  or  give  to  an  insane 
one  any  article  with  which  the  latter  was  likely  to  injure 
himself. 

XVII. 

BUT  it  will  be  said  that  some  men  are  made,. by  their 
vices,  dangerous  to  other  persons;  that  a  drunkard, 
for  example,  is  sometimes  quarrelsome  and  dangerous 
toward  his  family  or  others.  And  it  will  be  asked, 
"  Has  the  law  nothing  to  do  in  such  a  case  ?  " 

The  answer  is,  that  if,  either  from  drunkenness  or  any 
other  cause,  a  man  be  really  dangerous,  either  to  his 
family  or  to  other  persons,  not  only  himself  may  be  right- 
fully restrained,  so  far  as  the  safety  of  other  persons  re- 
quires, but  all  other  persons  —  who  know  or  have  reason- 
able grounds  to  believe  him  dangerous  —  may  also  be 
restrained  from  selling  or  giving  to  him  anything  that 
they  have  reason  to  suppose  will  make  him  dangerous. 

But  because  one  man  becomes  quarrelsome  and  danger- 
ous after  drinking  spirituous  liquors,  and  because  it  is  a 
crime  to  give  or  sell  liquor  to  such  a  man,  it  does  not 
follow  at  all  that  it  is  a  crime  to  sell  liquors  to  the  hun- 
dreds and  thousands  of  other  persons,  who  are  not  made 
quarrelsome  or  dangerous  by  drinking  them.  Before  a 
man  can  be  convicted  of  crime  in  selling  liquor  to  a 
dangerous  man,  it  must  be  shown  that  the  particular 
man,  to  whom  the  liquor  was  sold,  was  dangerous ;  and 
also  that  the  seller  knew,  or  had  reasonable  grounds  to 
suppose,  that  the  man  would  be  made  dangerous  by 
drinking  it. 

The  presumption  of  law  is,  in  all  cases,  that  the  sale  is 
innocent ;  and  the  burden  of  proving  it  criminal,  in  any 
particular  case,  rests  upon  the  government.  And  that 
particular  case  must  be  proved  criminalj  independently  of 
all  others. 


128  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

Subject  to  these  principles,  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
convicting  and  punishing  men  for  the  sale  or  gift  of  any 
article  to  a  man7  who  is  made  dangerous  to  others  by 
the  use  of  it. 

XVIII. 

BUT  it  is  often  said  that  some  vices  are  nuisances 
(public  or  private),  and  that  nuisances  can  be  abated 
and  punished. 

It  is  true  that  anything  that  is  really  and  legally  a 
nuisance  (either  public  or  private)  can  be  abated  and 
punished.  But  it  is  not  true  that  the  mere  private  vices 
of  one  man  are,  in  any  legal  sense,  nuisances  to  another 
man,  or  to  the  public. 

No  act  of  one  person  can  be  a  nuisance  to  another, 
unless  it  in  some  way  obstructs  or  interferes  with  that 
other's  safe  and  quiet  use  or  enjoyment  of  what  is 
rightfully  his  own. 

Whatever  obstructs  a  public  highway,  is  a  nuisance, 
and  may  be  abated  and  punished.  But  a  hotel  where 
liquors  are  sold,  a  liquor  store,  or  even  a  grog-shop,  so 
called,  no  more  obstructs  a  public  highway,  than  does  a 
dry  goods  store,  a  jewelry  store,  or  a  butcher's  shop. 

Whatever  poisons  the  air,  or  makes  it  either  offensive 
or  unhealthful,  is  a  nuisance.  But  neither  a  hotel,  nor  a 
liquor  store,  nor  a  grog-shop  poisons  the  air,  or  makes  it 
offensive  or  unhealthful  to  outside  persons. 

Whatever  obstructs  the  light,  to  which  a  man  is  legally 
entitled,  is  a  nuisance.  But  neither  a  hotel,  nor  a  liquor 
store,  nor  a  grog-shop,  obstructs  anybody's  light,  except 
in  cases  where  a  church,  a  school-house,  or  a  dwelling- 
house  would  have  equally  obstructed  it.  On  this  ground, 
therefore,  the  former  are  no  more,  and  no  less,  nuisances 
than  the  latter  would  be. 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  129 

Some  persons  are  in  the  habit  of  saying  that  a  liquor- 
shop  is  dangerous,  in  the  same  way  that  gunpowder  is 
dangerous.  But  there  is  no  analogy  between  the  two 
cases.  Gunpowder  is  liable  to  be  exploded  by  accident, 
and  especially  by  such  fires  as  often  occur  in  cities.  For 
these  reasons  it  is  dangerous  to  persons  and  property 
in  its  immediate  vicinity.  But  liquors  are  not  liable  to 
be  thus  exploded,  and  therefore  are  not  dangerous  nui- 
sances, in  any  such  sense  as  is  gunpowder  in  cities. 

But  it  is  said,  again,  that  drinking-places  are  frequently 
filled  with  noisy  and  boisterous  men,  who  disturb  the 
quiet  of  the  neighborhood,  and  the  sleep  and  rest  of  the 
neighbors. 

This  may  be  true  occasionally,  though  not  very  fre- 
quently. But  whenever,  in  any  case,  it  is  true,  the 
nuisance  may  be  abated  by  the  punishment  of  the  pro- 
prietor and  his  customers,  and  if  need  be,  by  shutting  up 
the  place.  But  an  assembly  of  noisy  drinkers  is  no  more 
a  nuisance  than  is  any  other  noisy  assembly.  A  jolly  or 
hilarious  drinker  disturbs  the  quiet  of  a  neighborhood 
no  more,  and  no  less,  than  does  a  shouting  religious 
fanatic.  An  assembly  of  noisy  drinkers  is  no  more,  and 
no  less,  a  nuisance  than  is  an  assembly  of  shouting 
religious  fanatics.  Both  of  them  are  nuisances  when 
they  disturb  the  rest  and  sleep,  or  quiet,  of  neighbors. 
Even  a  dog  that  is  given  to  barking,  to  the  disturbance 
of  the  sleep  or  quiet  of  the  neighborhood,  is  a  nuisance. 


XIX.' 

BUT  it  is  said,  that  for  one  person  to  entice  another 
into  a  vice,  is  a  crime. 

This   is  preposterous.     If  any  particular  act  is  simply 
a  vice,  theu  a  man  who  entices  another  to  commit  it,  ia 


130  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

simply  an  accomplice  in  the  vice.  He  evidently  commits 
no  crime,  because  the  accomplice  can  certainly  commit 
no  greater  offence  than  the  principal. 

Every  person  who  is  sane,  compos  mentis,  possessed  of 
reasonable  discretion  and  self-control,  is  presumed  to  be 
mentally  competent  to  judge  for  himself  of  all  the  argu- 
ments, pro  and  con,  that  may  be  addressed  to  him,  to 
persuade  him  to  do  any  particular  act ;  provided  no 
fraud  is  employed  to  deceive  him.  And  if  he  is  persuaded 
or  induced  to  do  the  act,  his  act  is  then  his  own ;  and 
even  though  the  act  prove  to  be  harmful  to  himself,  he 
cannot  complain  that  the  persuasion  or  arguments,  to 
which  he  yielded  his  assent,  were  crimes  against  himself. 

When  fraud  is  practised,  the  case  is,  of  course,  differ- 
ent.  If,  for  example,  I  offer  a  man  poison,  assuring  him 
that  it  is  a  safe  and  wholesome  drink,  and  he,  on  the 
faith  of  my  assertion,  swallows  it,  my  act  is  a  crime. 

Volenti  non  fit  injuria,  is  a  maxim  of  the  law.  To  the 
ic  filing  no  injury  is  done.  That  is,  no  legal  wrong.  And 
every  person  who  is  sane,  compos  mentis,  capable  of  exer- 
cising reasonable  discretion  in  judging  o£  the  truth  or 
falsehood  of  the  representations  or  persuasions  to  which 
he  yields  his  assent,  is  "  willing,"  in  the  view  of  the  law  ; 
and  takes  upon  himself  the  entire  responsibility  for  his 
acts,  when  no  intentional  fraud  has  been  practised  upon 
him. 

This  principle,  that  to  the  loitting  no  injury  is  done,  has 
no  limit,  except  in  the  case  of  frauds,  or  of  persons  not 
possessed  of  reasonable  discretion  for  judging  in  the 
particular  case.  If  a  person  possessed  of  reasonable  dis- 
cretion, and  not  deceived  by  fraud,  consents  to  practise 
the  grossest  vice,  and  thereby  brings  upon  himself  the 
greatest  moral,  physical,  or  pecuniary  sufferings  or  losses, 
he  cannot  allege  that  he  has  been  legally  wronged.  To 
illustrate  this  principle,  take  the  case  of  rape.  To  have 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  131 

carnal  knowledge  of  a  woman,  against  her  witt,  is  the 
highest  crime,  next  to  murder,  that  can  be  committed 
against  her.  But  to  have  carnal  knowledge  of  her,  with 
her  consent,  is  no  crime  ;  but  at  most,  a  vice.  And  it  is 
usually  holden  that  a  female  child,  of  no  more  than  ten 
years  of  age,  has  such  reasonable  discretion,  that  her 
consent,  even  though  procured  by  rewards,  or  promises 
of  reward,  is  sufficient  to  convert  the  act,  which  would 
otherwise  be  a  high  crimefinto  a  simple  act  of  vice.* 

We  see  the  same  principle  in  the  case  of  prize-fighters. 
If  I  but  lay  one  of  my  fingers  upon  another  man's  person, 
against  his  will,  no  matter  how  lightly,  and  no  matter 
how  little  practical  injury  is  done,  the  act  is  a  crime. 
But  if  two  men  agree  to  go  out  and  pound  each  other's 
faces  to  a  jelly,  it  is  no  crime,  but  only  a  vice. 

Even  duels  have  not  generally  been  considered  crimes, 
because  each  man's  life  is  his  own,  and  the  parties  agree 
that  each  may  take  the  other's  life,  if  he  can,  by  the 
use  of  such  weapons  as  are  agreed  upon,  and  in  con- 
formity with  certain  rules  that  are  also  mutually  as- 
eented  to. 

And  this  is  a  correct  view  of  the  matter,  unless  it  can 
be  said  (as  it  probably  cannot),  that  "  anger  is  a  mad- 
ness *'  that  so  far  deprives  men  of  ttieir  reason  as  to 
make  them  incapable  of  reasonable  discretion. 

Gambling  is  another  illustration  of  the  principle  that 
to  the  willing  no  injury  is  done.  If  I  take  but  a  single 
cent  of  a  man's  property,  without  his  consent,  the  act  is  a 
crime.  But  if  two  men,  who  are  compos  mentis,  possessed 

*  The  statute  book  of  Massachusetts  makes  ten  years  the  age  at 
which  a  female  child  is  supposed  to  have  discretion  enough  to  part  with 
her  virtue.  But  the  same  statute  book  holds  that  no  person,  man  or 
woman,  of  any  age,  or  any  degree  of  wisdom  or  experience,  has  dis- 
cretion enough  to  be  trusted  to  buy  and  drink  a  glass  of  spirits,  on  his 
or  her  own  judgment!  What  an  illustration  of  the  legislative  wisdom 
of  Massachusetts ! 

9 


132  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

of  reasonable  discretion  to  judge  of  the  nature  and  prob- 
able results  of  their  act.  sit  down  together,  and  each  vol- 
untarily stakes  his  money  against  the  money  of  another, 
on  the  turn  of  a  die,  and  one  of  them  loses  his  whole 
estate  (however  large  that  may  be),  it  is  no  crime,  but 
only  a  vice. 

It  is  not  a  crime,  even,  to  assist  a  person  to  commit 
suicide,  if  he  be  in  possession  of  his  reason. 

It  is  a  somewhat  common  idea  that  suicide  is,  of  itself, 
conclusive  evidence  of  insanity.  But,  although  it  may 
ordinarily  be  very  strong  evidence  of  insanity,  it  is  by 
no  means  conclusive  in  all  cases.  Many  persons,  in  un- 
doubted possession,  of  their  reason,  have  committed  sui- 
cide, to  escape  the  shame  of  a  public  exposure  for  their 
crimes,  or  to  avoid  some  other  great  calamity.  Suicide, 
in  these  cases,  may  not  have  been  the  highest  wisdom, 
but  it  certainly  was  not  proof  of  any  lack  of  reasonable 
discretion.*  And  being  within  the  limits  of  reasonable 
discretion,  it  was  no  crime  for  other  persons  to  aid  it, 
either  by  furnishing  the  instrument  or  otherwise.  And 
ifj  in  such  cases,  it  be  no  crime  to  aid  a  suicide,  how  ab- 
surd to  say  that  it  is  a  crime  to  aid  him  in  some  act  that 
is  really  pleasurable,  and  which  a  large  portion  of  man- 
kind have  believed  to  be  useful  ? 

*  Cato  committed  suicide  to  avoid  falling  into  the  hands  of  Caesar. 
Who  ever  suspected  that  he  was  insane?  Brutus  did  the  same.  Colt 
committed  suicide  only  an  hour  or  so  before  he  was  to  be  hanged.  He 
did  it  to  avoid  bringing  upon  his  name  and  his  family  the  disgrace  of 
having  it  said  that  he  was  hanged.  This,  whether  a  really  wise  act  or 
not,  was  clearly  an  act  within  reasonable  discretion.  Does  any  one 
suppose  that  the  person  who  furnished  him  with  the  necessary  instru- 
ment was  a  criminal  ? 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  133 


sx. 

BUT  some  persons  are  in  the  habit  of  saying  that  the 
use  of  spirituous  liquors  is  the  great  source  of  crime  ; 
that  "  it  fills  our  prisons  with  criminals  ;  "  and  that  this 
is  reason  enough  for  prohibiting  the  sale  of  them. 

Those  who  say  this,  if  they  talk  seriously,  talk  blindly 
and  foolishly.  They  evidently  mean  to  be  understood  as 
saying  that  a  very  large  percentage  of  all  the  crimes  that 
'are  committed  among  men,  are  committed  by  persons 
whose  criminal  passions  are  excited,  at  the  time,  by  the 
use  of  liquors,  and  in  consequence  of  the  use  of  liquors. 

This  idea  is  utterly  preposterous. 

In  the  first  place,  the  great  crimes  committed  in  the 
world  are  mostly  prompted  by  avarice  and  ambition. 

The  greatest  of  all  crimes  are  the  wars  that  are  car- 
ried on  by  governments,  to  plunder,  enslave,  and  destroy 
mankind. 

The  next  greatest  crimes  committed  in  the  world  are 
equally  prompted  by  avarice  and  ambition ;  and  are  com- 
•nitted,  not  on  sudden  passion,  but  by  men  of  calculation, 
who  keep  their  heads  cool  and  clear,  and  who  have  no 
thought  whatever  of  going  to  prison  for  them.  They  are 
committed,  not  so  much  by  men  who  violate  the  laws,  as  by 
men  who,  either  by  themselves  or  by  their  instruments, 
make  the  laws;  by  men  who  have  combined  to  usurp 
arbitrary  power,  and  to  maintain  it  by  force  and  fraud, 
and  whose  purpose  in  usurping  and  maintaining  it  is,  by 
unjust  and  unequal  legislation,  to  secure  to  themselves 
such  advantages  and  monopolies  as  will  enable  them  to 
control  and  extort  the  labor  and  properties  of  other  men, 
and  thus  impoverish  them,  in  order  to  minister  to  their 
own  wealth  and  aggrandizement.*  The  robberies  and 


134:  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

wrongs  thus  committed  by  these  men,  in  conformity  with 
the  laws,  —  that  is,  their  own  laws,  —  are  as  mountains  to 
molehills,  compared  with  the  crimes  committed  by  all 
other  criminals,  in  violation  of  the  laws. 

But,  thirdly,  there  are  vast  numbers  of  frauds,  of  vari- 
ous kinds,  committed  in  the  transactions  of  trade,  whose 
perpetrators,  by  their  coolness  and  sagacity,  evade  the 
operation  of  the  laws.  And  it  is  only  their  cool  and  clear 
heads  that  enable  them  to  do  it.  Men  under  the  excite- 
ment of  intoxicating  drinks  are  little  disposed,  and  ut- 
terly unequal,  to  the  successful  practice  of  these  frauds. 
They  are  the  most  incautious,  the  least  successful,  the 
least  efficient,  and  the  least  to  be  feared,  of  all  the  crimi- 
nals with  whom  the  laws  have  to  deal. 

Fourthly.  The  professed  burglars,  robbers,  thieves, 
forgers,  counterfeiters,  and  swindlers,  who  prey  upon  so- 
ciety, are  anything  but  reckless  drinkers.  Their  busi- 
ness is  of  too  dangerous  a  character  to  admit  of  such  risks 
as  they  would  thus  incur. 

Fifthly.  The  crimes  that  can  be  said  to  be  committed 
under  the  influence  of  intoxicating  drinks  are  mostly 
assaults  and  batteries,  not  very  numerous,  and  generally 
not  very  aggravated.  Some  other  small  crimes,  as  petty 
thefts,  or  other  small  trespasses  upon  property,  are  some- 

*  An  illustration  of  this  fact  is  found  in  England,  whose  government, 
for  a  thousand  years  anJ  more,  has  been  little  or  nothing  else  than  a 
band  of  robbers,  who  have  conspired  to  monopolize  the  land,  and,  as 
far  as  possible,  all  other  wealth.  These  conspirators,  calling  them- 
selves kings,  nobles,  and  freeholders,  have,  by  force  and  fraud,  taken 
to  themselves  all  civil  and  military  power;  they  keep  themselves  in 
power  solely  by  force  and  fraud,  and  the  corrupt  use  of  their  wealth ; 
and  they  employ  their  power  solely  in  robbing  and  enslaving  the  groat 
body  of  their  own  people,  and  in  plundering  and  enslaving  other  peo- 
ples. And  the  world  has  been,  and  now  is,  full  of  examples  substan- 
tially similar.  And  the  governments  of  our  own  country  do  not  differ 
so  widely  from  others,  in  this  respect,  as  some  of  us  imagine. 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  135 

times  committed,  under  the  influence  of  drink,  by  feeble- 
minded persons,  not  generally  addicted  to  crime.  The 
persons  who  commit  these  two  kinds  of  crime  are  but 
few.  They  cannot  be  said  to  "  fill  our  prisons  ;  "  or,  if 
they  do,  we  are  to  be  congratulated  that  we  need  so  few 
prisons,  and  so  small  prisons,  to  hold  them. 

The  State  of  Massachusetts,  for  example,  has  a  million 
and  a  half  of  people.  How  many  of  these  are  now  in 
prison  for  crimes  —  not  for  the  vice  of  intoxication,  but 
for  crimes  —  committed  against  persons  or  property  under 
the  instigation  of  strong  drink  ?  I  doubt  if  there  be  one 
in  ten  thousand,  that  is,  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  all ;  and 
the  crimes  for  which  these  are  in  prison  are  mostly  very 
small  ones. 

And  I  think  it  will  be  found  that  these  few  men  aro 
generally  much  more  to  be  pitied  than  punished,  for  the 
reason  that  it  was  their  poverty  and  misery,  rather  than 
any  passion  for  liquor,  or  for  crime,  that  led  them  to 
drink,  and  thus  led  them  to  commit  their  crimes  under 
the  influence  of  drink. 

The  sweeping  charge  that  drink  "  fills  our  prisons  with 
criminals  "  is  made,  I  think,  only  by  those  men  who  know 
no  better  than  to  call  a  drunkard  a  criminal ;  and  who 
have  no  better  foundation  for  their  charge  than  the 
shameful  fact  that  we  are  such  a  brutal  and  senseless 
people,  that  we  condemn  and  punish  such  weak  arid  un- 
fortunate persons  as  drunkards,  as-  if  they  were  criminals. 

The  legislators  who  authorize,  and  the  judges  who 
practise,  such  atrocities  as  these,  are  intrinsically  crim- 
inals ;  unless  their  ignorance  be  such  —  as  it  probably  is 
not  —  as  to  excuse  them.  And,  if  they  were  themselves 
to  be  punished  as  criminals,  there  would  be  more  reason 
in  our  conduct. 

A  police  judge  in  Boston  once  told  me  that  he  was  in 
the  habit  of  disposing  of  drunkards  (by  sending  them  to 


138  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

most,  merely  an  accomplice  of  the  drinker.  And  it  is  a 
rule  of  law,  as  well  as  of  reason,  that  if  the  principal  in 
any  act  is  not  punishable,  the  accomplice  cannot  be. 
.  2.  A  second  answer  to  the  argument  is,  that  if  govern- 
ment has  the  right,  and  is  bound,  to  prohibit  any  one  act  — 
that  is  not  criminal  —  merely  because  it  is  supposed  to 
tend  to  poverty,  then,  by  the  same  rule,  it  has  the  right, 
and  is  bound,  to  prohibit  any  and  every  other  act  — 
though  not  criminal —  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  govern- 
ment, tends  to  poverty.  And,  on  this  principle,  the  gov- 
ernment would  not  only  have  the  right,  but  would  be 
bound,  to  look  into  every  man's  private  affairs,  and  every 
person's  personal  expenditures,  and  determine  as  to  which 
of  them  did,  and  which  of  them  did  not,  tend  to  poverty ; 
arid  to  prohibit  and  punish  all  of  the  former  class.  A 
man  would  have  no  right  to  expend  a  cent  of  his  own 
property,  according  to  his  own  pleasure  or  judgment,  un- 
less the  legislature  should  be  of  the  opinion  that  such 
expenditure  would  not  tend  to  poverty. 

3.  A  third  answer  to  the  same  argument  is,  that  if  a 
man  does  bring  himself  to  poverty,  and  even  to  beggary, 

—  cither  by  his  virtues  or  his  vices,  —  the   government  is 
Bunder  no  obligation  whatever  to  take  care  of  him,  unless 
it  pleases  to  do  so.     It  may  let  him  •perish  in  the  street, 
or  depend  upon  private  charity,  if  it  so  pleases.     It  can 
carry  out  its  own  free  will  and  discretion  in  the  matter ; 
for  it  is  above  all  legal  responsibility  in  such  a  case.     It 
is  not,  necessarily,  any  part  of  a  government's  duty  to 
provide  for  the  poor.     A  government  —  that  is,  a  legiti- 
mate government  —  is  simply  a  voluntary  association  of 
individuals,  who  unite  for  such  purposes,  and  only  for 
such  purposes,  as  suits  them.     If  taking  care  of  the  poor 

—  whether  they  be  virtuous  or  vicious  —  be  not  one  of 
those  purposes,  then  the  government,  as  a  government, 
has  no  more  right,  and  is  no  more  bound,  to  take  care  of. 


VICES  ARE   NOT  CRIMES'.  139 

them,  than  has  or  is  a  banking  company,  or  a  railroad 
company. 

Whatever  moral  claims  a  poor  man  —  whether  he  be 
virtuous  or  vicious  —  may  have  upon  the  charity  of  his 
fellow-men,  he  has  no  legal  claims  upon  them.  He  must 
depend  wholly  upon  their  charity,  if  they  so  please.  He 
cannot  demand,  as  a  legal  right,  that  they  either  feed  or 
clothe  him.  And  he  has  no  more  legal  or  moral  claims 
upon  a  government  —  which  is  but  an  association  of 
individuals  —  than  he  has  upon  the  same,  or  any  other 
individuals,  in  their  private  capacity. 

Inasmuch,  then,  as  a  poor  man  —  whether  virtuous  or 
vicious  —  has  no  more  or  other  claims,  legal  or  moral, 
upon  a  government,  for  food  or  clothing,  than  he  has 
upon  private  persons,  a  government  has  no  more  right 
than  a  private  person  to  control  or  prohibit  the  expen- 
ditures or  actions  of  an  individual,  on  the  ground  that 
they  tend  to  bring  him  to  poverty. 

Mr.  A,  as  an  individual,  has  clearly  no  right  to  prohibit 
any  acts  or  expenditures  of  Mr.  Z,  through  fear  that  such 
acts  or  expenditures  may  tend  to  bring  him(Z)  to  poverty, 
and  that  he  (Z)  may,  in  consequence,  at  some  future  un- 
known time,  come  to  him  (A)  in  distress,  and  ask  charity. 
And  if  A  has  no  such  right,  as  an  individual,  to  prohibit 
any  acts  or  expenditures  on  the  part  of  Z,  then  govern- 
ment, which  is  a  mere  association  of  individuals,  can 
have  no  such  right. 

Certainly  no  man,  who  is  compos  mentis,  holds  his  right 
to  the  disposal  and  use  of  his  own  property,  by  any  such 
worthless  tenure  as  that  which  would  authorize  any  or 
all  of  his  neighbors,  —  whether  calling  themselves  a  gov- 
ernment or  not, —  to  interfere,  and  forbid  him  to  make  any 
expenditures,  except  such  as  they  might  think  would  not 
tend  to  poverty,  and  would  not  tend  to  ever  bring  him  to 
them  as  a  supplicant  for  their  charity. 


140  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

Whether  a  man,  wfao  is  compos  mentis,  come  to  poverty, 
through  his  virtues  or  his  vices,  no  man,  nor  body  of 
men,  can  have  any  right  to  interfere  with  him,  on  the 
ground  that  their  sympathy  may  some  time  be  appealed 
to  in  his  behalf;  because,  if  it  should  be  appealed  to, 
they  are  at  perfect  liberty  to  act  their  own  pleasure  or 
discretion  as  to  complying  with  his  solicitations. 

This  right  to  refuse  charity  to  the  poor  —  whether  the 
latter  be  virtuous  or  vicious  —  is  one  that  governments 
always  act  upon.  No  government  makes  any  more  pro- 
vision for  the  poor  than  it  pleases.  As  a  consequence, 
the  poor  are  left,  to  a  great  extent,  to  depend  upon  pri- 
vate charity.  In  fact,  they  are  often  left  to  suffer  sick- 
ness, and  even  death,  because  neither  public  nor  private 
charity  comes  to  their  aid.  How  absurd,  then,  to  say 
that  government  has  a  right  to  control  a  man's  use  of  his 
own  property,  through  fear  that  he  may  sometime  come 
to  poverty,  and  ask  charity. 

4.  Still  a  fourth  answer  to  the  argument  is,  that  the 
great  and  only  incentive  which  each  individual  man  has 
to  labor,  and  to  create  wealth,  is  that  he  may  dispose  of 
it  according  to  his  own  pleasure  or  discretion,  and  for 
the  promotion  of  his  own  happiness,  and  the  happiness 
of  those  whom  he  loves.* 

Although  a  man  may  often,  from  inexperience  or  want 
of  judgment,  expend  some  portion  of  the  products  of  his 
labor  injudiciously,  and  so  as  not  to  promote  his  highest 
welfare,  yet  he  learns  wisdom  in  this,  as  in  all  other 
matters,  by  experience  ;  by  his  mistakes  as  well  as  by  his 
successes.  And  this  is  the  only  way  in  which  lie  can  learn 
wisdom.  When  he  becomes  convinced  that  he  has  made 
one  foolish  expenditure,  he  learns  thereby  not  to  make 

*  It  is  to  this  incentive  alone  that  we  are  indebted  for  all  the  wealth 
that  has  ever  been  created  by  human  labor,  and  pccuoulated  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind. 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  141 

another  like  it.  And  he  must  be  permitted  to  try  his 
own  experiments,  and  to  try  them  to  his  own  satisfac- 
tion, in  this  as  in  all  other  matters ;  for  otherwise  he  has 
no  motive  to  labor,  or  to  create  wealth  at  all. 

Any  man,  who  is  a  man,  would  rather  be  a  savage,  and 
be  free,  creating  or  procuring  only  such  little  wealth  as 
he  could  control  and  consume  from  day  to  day,  than  to 
be  a  civilized  man,  knowing  how  to  create  and  accumu- 
late wealth  indefinitely,  and  yet  not  permitted  to  use  or 
dispose  of  it,  except  under  the  supervision,  direction,  and 
dictation  of  a  set  of  meddlesome,  superserviceable  fools 
and  tyrants,  who,  with  no  more  knowledge  than  himself, 
and  perhaps  with  not  half  so  much,  should  assume  to  con- 
trol him,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  not  the  right,  or  the 
capacity,  to  determine  for  himself  as  to  what  he  would 
do  with  the  proceeds  of  his  own  labor. 

5.  A  fifth  answer  to  the  argument  is,  that  if  it  be  the 
duty  of  government  to  watch  over  the  expenditures  of 
any  one  person,  —  who  is  compos  mentis,  and  not  criminal, 
—  to  see  what  ones  tend  to  poverty,  and  what  do  not, 
and  to  prohibit  and  punish  the  former,  then,  by  the  same 
rule,  it  is  bound  to  watch  over  the  expenditures  of  all 
other  persons,  and  prohibit  and  punish  all  that,  in  its 
judgment,  tend  to  poverty. 

If  such  a  principle  were  carried  out  impartially,  the 
result  would  be,  that  all  mankind  would  be  so  occupied 
in  watching  each  other's  expenditures,  and  in  testifying 
against,  trying,  and  punishing  such  as  tended  to  poverty, 
that  they  would  have  no  time  left  to  create  wealth  at  all. 
Everybody  capable  of  productive  labor  would  either  be 
in  prison,  or  be  acting  as  judge,  juror,  witness,  or  jailer. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  create  courts  enough  to  try,  or 
to  build  prisons  enough  to  hold,  the  offenders.  All  pro- 
ductive labor  would  cease  ;  and  the  fools  that  were  so 
intent  on  preventing  poverty,  would  not  only  all  come  to 


142  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

poverty,  imprisonment,  and  starvation  themselves,  but 
would  bring  everybody  else  to  poverty,  imprisonment, 
and  starvation. 

6.  If  it  be  said  that  a  man  may,  at  least,  be  rightfully 
compelled  to  support  his  family,  and,  consequently,  to 
abstain  from  all  expenditures  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
government,  tend  to  disable  him  to  perform  that  duty, 
various  answers  might  be  given.  But  this  one  is  suffi- 
cient, viz. :  that  no  man,  unless  a  fool  or  a  slave,  would 
acknowledge  any  family  to  be  his,  if  that  acknowledg- 
ment were  to  be  made  an  excuse,  by  the  government,  for 
depriving  him,  either  of  his  personal  liberty,  or  the  con- 
trol of  his  property. 

When  a  man  is  allowed  bis  natural  liberty,  and  the  con- 
trol of  his  property,  his  family  is  usually,  almost  univer- 
sally, the  great  paramount  object  of  his  pride  and  affec- 
tion ;  and  he  will,  not  only  voluntarily,  but  as  his  highest 
pleasure,  employ  his  best  powers  of  mind  and  body,  not 
merely  to  provide  for  them  the  ordinary  necessaries  and 
comforts  of  life,  but  to  lavish  upon  them  all  the  luxuries 
and  elegancies  that  his  labor  can  procure. 

A  man  enters  into  no  moral  or  legal  obligation  with  his 
wife  or  chidren  to  do  anything  for  them,  except  what  he 
can  do  consistently  with  his  own  personal  freedom,  and 
his  natural  right  to  control  his  own  property  at  his  own 
discretion. 

If  a  government  can  step  in  and  say  to  a  man,  —  who 
is  compos  mentis,  and  who  is  doing  his  duty  to  his 
family,  as  he  sees  his  duty,  and  according  to  his  best 
judgment,  however  imperfect  that  may  be,  — "  We 
(the  government)  suspect  that  you  are  not  employing 
your  labor  to  the  best  advantage  for  your  family;  we  sus- 
pect that  your  expenditures,  and  your  disposal  of  your 
property,  are  not  so  judicious  as  they  might  be,  for  the 
interest  of  your  family ;  and  therefore  we  (the  govern- 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  143 

merit)  will  take  you  and  your  property  under  our  special 
surveillance,  and  prescribe  to  you  what  you  may,  and  may 
not  do,  with  yourself  and  your  property;  and  your  fam- 
ily shall  hereafter  look  to  us  (the  government),  and  not 
to  you,  for  support "  —  if  a  government  can  do  this,  all  a 
man's  pride,  ambition,  and  affection,  relative  to  his  family, 
would  be  crushed,  so  far  as  it  would  be  possible  for 
human  tyranny  to  crush  them  ;  and  he  would  either  never 
have  a  family  (whom  he  would  publicly  acknowledge  to 
be  his),  or  he  would  risk  both  his  property  and  his  life  in 
overthrowing  such  an  insulting,  outrageous,  and  insuffer- 
able tyranny.  And  any  woman  who  would  wish  her  hus- 
band—he being  compos  mentis — to  submit  to  such  an 
unnatural  insult  and  wrong,  is  utterly  undeserving  of  his 
affection,  or  of  anything  but  his  disgust  and  contempt. 
And  he  would  probably  very  soon  cause  her  to  under- 
stand that,  if  she  chose  to  rely  on  the  government,  for  the 
support  of  herself  and  her  children,  rather  than  on  him, 
she  must  rely  on  the  government  alone. 

XXII. 

STILL  another  and  all-sufficient  answer  to  the  argument 
that  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors  tends  to  poverty,  is 
that,  as  a  general  rule,  it  puts  the  effect  before  the  cause. 
It  assumes  that  it  is  the  use  of  the  liquors  that  causes 
the  poverty,  instead  of  its  being  the  poverty  that  causes 
the  use  of  the  liquors. 

Poverty  is  the  natural  parent  of  nearly  all  the  igno- 
rance, vice,  crime,  and  misery  there  are  in  the  world.* 

*  Except  those  great  crimes,  which  the  few,  calling  themselves  gov- 
ernments, practise  upon  the  many,  by  means  of  organized,  systematic 
extortion  and  tyranny.  And  it  is  only  the  poverty,  ignorance,  and  con- 
sequent weakness  of  the  many,  that  enable  the  combined  and  organized 
few  to  acquire  and  maintain  such  arbitrary  power  over  them. 


142  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

poverty,  imprisonment,  and  starvation  themselves,  but 
would  bring  everybody  else  to  poverty,  imprisonment, 
and  starvation. 

6.  If  it  be  said  that  a  man  may,  at  least,  be  rightfully 
compelled  to  support  his  family,  and,  consequently,  to 
abstain  from  all  expenditures  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
government,  tend  to  disable  him  to  perform  that  duty, 
various  answers  might  be  given.  But  this  one  is  suffi- 
cient, viz. :  that  no  man,  unless  a  fool  or  a  slave,  would 
acknowledge  any  family  to  be  his,  if  that  acknowledg- 
ment were  to  be  made  an  excuse,  by  the  government,  for 
depriving  him,  either  of  his  personal  liberty,  or  the  con- 
trol of  his  property. 

When  a  man  is  allowed  bis  natural  liberty,  and  the  con- 
trol of  his  property,  his  family  is  usually,  almost  univer- 
sally, the  great  paramount  object  of  his  pride  and  affec- 
tion ;  and  he  will,  not  only  voluntarily,  but  as  his  highest 
pleasure,  employ  his  best  powers  of  mind  and  body,  not 
merely  to  provide  for  them  the  ordinary  necessaries  and 
comforts  of  life,  but  to  lavish  upon  them  all  the  luxuries 
and  elegancies  that  his  labor  can  procure. 

A  man  enters  into  no  moral  or  legal  obligation  with  his 
wife  or  chidren  to  do  anything  for  them,  except  what  he 
can  do  consistently  with  his  own  personal  freedom,  and 
his  natural  right  to  control  his  own  property  at  his  own 
discretion. 

If  a  government  can  step  in  and  say  to  a  man,  —  who 
is  compos  mentis,  and  who  is  doing  his  duty  to  his 
family,  as  he  sees  his  duty,  and  according  to  his  best 
judgment,  however  imperfect  that  may  be,  — "  We 
(the  government)  suspect  that  you  are  not  employing 
your  labor  to  the  best  advantage  for  your  family;  we  sus- 
pect that  your  expenditures,  and  your  disposal  of  your 
property,  are  not  so  judicious  as  they  might  be,  for  the 
interest  of  your  family ;  and  therefore  we  (the  govern- 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  143 

merit)  will  take  you  and  your  property  under  our  special 
surveillance,  and  prescribe  to  you  what  you  may,  and  may 
not  do,  with  yourself  and  your  property;  and  your  fam- 
ily shall  hereafter  look  to  us  (the  government),  and  not 
to  you,  for  support "  —  if  a  government  can  do  this,  all  a 
man's  pride,  ambition,  and  affection,  relative  to  his  family, 
would  be  crushed,  so  far  as  it  would  be  possible  for 
human  tyranny  to  crush  them  ;  and  he  would  either  never 
have  a  family  (whom  he  would  publicly  acknowledge  to 
be  his),  or  he  would  risk  both  his  property  and  his  life  in 
overthrowing  such  an  insulting,  outrageous,  and  insuffer- 
able tyranny.  And  any  woman  who  would  wish  her  hus- 
band —  he  being  compos  mentis —  to  submit  to  such  an 
unnatural  insult  and  wrong,  is  utterly  undeserving  of  his 
affection,  or  of  anything  but  his  disgust  and  contempt. 
And  he  would  probably  very  soon  cause  her  to  under- 
stand that,  if  she  chose  to  rely  on  the  government,  for  the 
support  of  herself  and  her  children,  rather  than  on  him, 
she  must  rely  on  the  government  alone. 

XXII. 

STILL  another  and  all-sufficient  amswer  to  the  argument 
that  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors  tends  to  poverty,  is 
that,  as  a  general  rule,  it  puts  the  effect  before  the  cause. 
It  assumes  that  it  is  the  use  of  the  liquors  that  causes 
the  poverty,  instead  of  its  being  the  poverty  that  causes 
the  use  of  the  liquors. 

Poverty  is  the  natural  parent  of  nearly  all  the  igno- 
rance, vice,  crime,  and  misery  there  are  in  the  world.* 

*  Except  those  great  crimes,  which  the  few,  calling  themselves  gov- 
ernments, practise  upon  the  many,  by  means  of  organized,  systematic 
extortion  and  tyranny.  And  it  is  only  the  poverty,  ignorance,  and  con- 
sequent weakness  of  the  many,  that  enable  the  combined  and  organized 
few  to  acquire  and  maintain  such  arbitrary  power  over  them. 


144  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

Why  is  it  that  so  large  a  portion  of  the  laboring  people 
of  England  are  drunken  and  vicious  ?  Certainly  not  be- 
cause they  are  by  nature  any  worse  than  other  men. 
But  it  is  because  their  extreme  and  hopeless  poverty 
keeps  them  in  ignorance  and  servitude,  destroys  their 
courage  and  self-respect,  subjects  them  to  such  constant 
insults  and  wrongs,  to  such  incessant  and  bitter  miseries 
of  every  kind,  and  finally  drives  them  to  such  despair, 
that  the  short  respite  that  drink  or  other  vice  affords 
them,  is,  for  the  time  being,  a  relief.  This  is  the  chief 
cause  of  the  drunkenness  and  other  vices  that  prevail 
among  the  laboring  people  of  England. 

If  those  laborers  of  England,  who  are  now  drunken  and 
vicious,  had  had  the  same  chances  and  surroundings  in 
life  as  the  more  fortunate  classes  have  had ;  if  they  had 
been  reared  in  .comfortable,  and  happy,  and  virtuous 
homes,  instead  of  squalid,  and  wretched,  and  vicious 
ones  ;  if  they  had  had  opportunities  to  acquire  knowledge 
and  property,  and  make  themselves  intelligent,  comfort- 
able, happy,  independent,  and  respected,  and  to  secure 
to  themselves  all  the  intellectual,  social,  and  domestic 
enjoyments  which  honest  and  justly  rewarded  industry 
could  enable  them  to  secure,  —  if  they  could  have  had 
all  this,  instead  of  being  born  to  a  life  of  hopeless,  unre- 
warded toil,  with  a  certainty  of  death  in  the  workhouse, 
they  would  have  been  as  free  from  their  present  vices 
and  weaknesses  as  those  who  reproach  them  now  are. 

It  is  of  no  use  to  say  that  drunkenness,  or  any  other 
vice,  only  adds  to  their  miseries ;  for  such  is  human  na- 
ture —  the  weakness  of  human  nature,  if  you  please  — 
that  men  can  endure  but  a  certain  amount  of  misery,  be- 
fore their  hope  and  courage  fail,  and  they  yield  to  almost 
anything  that  promises  present  relief  or  mitigation ; 
though  at  the  cost  of  still  greater  misery  in  the  future. 
To  preach  morality  or  temperance  to  such  wretched  per- 


VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES.  145 

sons,  instead  of  relieving  their  sufferings,  or  improving 
their  conditions,  is  only  insulting  their  wretchedness. 

Will  those  who  are  in  the  habit  of  attributing  men's 
poverty  to  their  vices,  instead  of  their  vices  to  their 
poverty,  —  as  if  every  poor  person,  or  most  poor  persons, 
were  specially  vicious,  —  tell  us  whether  all  the  poverty 
and  want  that,  within  the  last  year  and  a  half,*  have  been 
brought  so  suddenly  —  as  it  were  in  a  moment  —  upon  at 
least  twenty  millions  of  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
were  brought  upon  them  as  a  natural  consequence,  either 
of  their  drunkenness,  or  of  any  other  of  their  vices  ?  Was 
it  their  drunkenness,  or  any  other  of  their  vices,  that 
paralyzed,  as  by  a  stroke  of  lightning,  all  the  industries 
by  which  th§y  lived,  and  which  had,  but  a  few  days  be- 
fore, been  in  such  prosperous  activity?  Was  it  their 
vices  that  turned  the  adult  portion  of  those  twenty 
millions  out  of  doors  without  employment,  compelled 
them  to  consume  their  little  accumulations,  if  they  had 
any,  and  then  to  become  beggars,  —  beggars  for  work, 
and,  failing  in  this,  beggars  for  bread  ?  Was  it  their 
vices  that,  all  at  once,  and  without  warning,  filled  the 
homes  of  so  many  of  them  with  want,  misery,  sickness, 
and  death  ?  No.  Clearly  it  was  neither  the  drunken- 
ness, nor  any  other  vices,  of  these  laboring  people,  that 
brought  upon  them  all  this  ruin  and  wretchedness.  And 
if  it  was  not,  what  was  it  ? 

This  is  the  problem  that  must  be  answered ;  for  it  is 
one  that  is  repeatedly  occurring,  and  constantly  before 
us,  and  that  cannot  be  put  aside. 

In  fact,  the  poverty  of  the  great  body  of  mankind,  the 
world  over,  is  the  great  problenrpf  the  world.  That  such 
extreme  and  nearly  universal  poverty  exists  all  over  the 
world,  and  has  existed  through  all  past  generations, 

*  That  is,  from  September  1,  1873,  to  March  1,  1876. 


146  VICES  ARE  NOT  CRIMES. 

proves  that  it  originates  in  causes  which  the  common 
human  nature  of  those  who  suffer  from  it,  has  not  hitherto 
been  strong  enough  to  overcome.  But  these  sufferers  are, 
at  least,  beginning  to  see  these  causes,  and  are  becoming 
resolute  to  remove  them,  let  it  cost  what  it  may.  And 
those  who  imagine  that  they  have  nothing  to  do  but  to 
go  on  attributing  the  poverty  of  the  poor  to  their  vices, 
and  preaching  to  them  against  their  vices,  will  ere  long 
wake  up  to  find  that  the  day  for  all  such  talk  is  past. 
And  the  question  will  then  be,  iiot  what  are  men's  vices, 
but  what  are  their  rights  ? 


PART   THIRD. 


IT  has  been  thought  necessary  to  illustrate  the  best 
methods  of  conducting  the  temperance  movement.  To 
that  end,  the  following  stories  are  submitted. 

In  the  first  —  "A  Story  of  the  Crusade  " — the  best 
combination  of  "  Washingtonianism  "  and  the  "  Woman's 
Crusade "  is  portrayed.  It  is  devoutly  believed  that 
this  combination  would  triumph  anywhere  and  every- 
where. 

In  the  second  story  —  "  Major  Barren  "  —  a  domestic 
or  family  method  is  illustrated,  which  will  prove  very 
potent  wherever  the  victim  of  drink  has  a  wife,  or 
mother,  or  sister,  or  other  near  friend,  who  will  throw 
herself  into  the  deadly  breach. 

149 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  moral  cyclone,  popularly  Toiown  as  "  The  Woman's 
Crusade/'  was  the  most  remarkable  development  of  the 
century.  That  a  town,  with  fifty  or  a  hundred  grog- 
shops, should,  in  a  single  month,  rid  itself  of  the  curse  of 
drink,  is  a  most  extraordinary  phenomenon.  Wealth, 
avarice,  custom,  prejudice,  and  passion  joined  hands  to 
defend  the  groggeries  j  but  they  were  swept  away  like 
chaff  before  the  wind. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  discuss  the  moral  and  religious 
forces  which  conjoined  to  accomplish  the  great  revival 
in  the  West,  but  I  wish  here  simply  to  suggest  that  the 
Woman's  Crusade  offers  the  richest  material  for  the 
story- writer.  I  have  hoped  that  some  of  our  favorite 
story-writers  would  appear  on  this  field.  Rev.  Edward 
Everett  Hale  has  just  published  "  Our  New  Crusade," 
but  it  entirely  fails  to  present  the  principal  idea  of 
the  Woman's  Crusade. 

I  have  not  drawn  upon  my  imagination  for  any  of  the 
facts  in  this  story.  Even  the  dragging  of  the  barrels 
of  liquors  out  of  a  cellar,  by  women  alone,  occurred  just 

151 


152  INTRODUCTION. 

as  given.  The  only  exaggeration  is  to  be  found  in  the 
magnitude  of  Richards  Hall.  This  feature  has,  unfortu- 
nately, received  an  amount  of  consideration  far  from  com- 
mensurate with  its  importance.  When  crowds  of  men, 
who  have  long  been  in  the  habit  of  spending  their  even- 
ings in  grog-shops,  are  turned  into  the  street,  Holly-tree 
inns,  reading  rooms,  bath  rooms,  amusement  halls,  or 
other  similar  institutions  must  be  opened.  The  fre- 
quenters of  dram-shops,  who  are  generally  attracted  far 
more  by  the  light,  warmth,  and  good  fellowship,  than  by 
the  rum,  have  but  small  resources  within  themselves; 
and,  if  we  are  willing  to  spend  half  the  money  which 
rum  costs  us,  directly  and  indirectly,  to  give  them  inno- 
cent recreations,  we  shall  make  secure  the  fruits  of  our 
temperance  victory. 


A  STOKY 

OP 

THE    OHIO    CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

• 

OUR  HERO  AND  HEROINE. 

AMONG  the  many  episodes  of  the  Ohio  Crusade,  I 
remember  none  more  vividly  than  the  story  of  Mary 
Hart  and  John  Lane,  in  D. 

Mary  was  the  daughter  of  an  excellent  widow,  whose 
husband  shrieked  out  his  life  in  delirium  tremens. 

John  was  the  son  of  a  widow,  likewise ;  his  father 
slept  in  a  drunkard's  grave. 

Mary  was  twenty,  wholesome,  good,  and  true.  John 
was  twenty-four,  strong,  manly,  ambitious.  They  had 
grown  up  together,  loved  each  other,  and,  one  year 
before  the  Crusade,  became  engaged.  With  the  hearty 
approval  of  the  two  mothers,  the  young  people  deter- 
mined that  the  wedding  should  be  celebrated  on  the  first 
of  January,  1874. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  lovers  were  much  together,  and 
Mary  often  detected  the  odor  of  strong  drink  in  John's 
breath.  It  excited  grave  apprehensions,  and  as  the 
wedding  day  approached,  she  resolved,  after  long  sleep- 
lessness and  heartache,  to  submit  her  trouble  to  her 

153 


154          A  STORY  OF  THE  OHIO  CRUSADE.  . 

mother.  Mrs.  Hart  had  never  suspected  John  of  a  pas- 
sion for  strong  drink,  thought  Mary  might  be  mistaken, 
but  the  daughter  soon  convinced  her. 

When  John  dropped  in  after  tea.  Mrs.  Hart  sent  Mary 
up  stairs  for  something,  and  when  she  had  left  the 
room,  the  good  mother  asked  John  to  step  into  the  par- 
lor ;  she  wished  to  speak  with  him. 

The  young  man,  supposing  it  concerned  the  prepara- 
tions for  the  coming  event,  cheerfully  stepped  into  the 
little  room,  and  took  a  familiar  seat.  The  mother  sat 
down  near  him,  and  began,  after  an  awkward  silence, 
with,  — 

"  John,  I  am  afraid  I  canrt  say  what  I  want  to." 

"  Why,  Mrs.  Hart,  speak  out.  "  If  you  are  in  trou- 
ble, I  am  sure  you  can  trust  me,  as  you  would  your  own 
eon." 

"  But,  John,  I  am  afraid  you  will  be  offended." 

"  Mrs.  Hart,  I  am  no  child,  and  no  coward.  Speak 
right  out.  I  can't  imagine  what  it  is,  but  whatever  it 
may  be,  I  promise  to  help  you.  It  is  hard,  indeed,  if 
we,  who  are  so  soon  to  be  mother  and  son.  may  not  speak 
freely  to  each  other.  My  dear  mother,  speak  out." 

"  I  thank  you,  John,  for  that  appellation.  It  gives  me 
courage.  My  son,  you  know  the  story  of  my  married 
life ;  but  only  God  knows  how  deep  and  dark  were  my 
sorrows ;  His  grace  alone  kept  me  from  insanity  and 
death.  John,  my  dear  friend,  how  can  I  say  it !  But  0, 
I  am  so  afraid  you  do  not  know  the  danger  —  I  fear  — 
O,  John,  you  know  what  I  mean  !  " 

"  Mrs.  Hart,  you  don't  mean  to  say  —  you  certainly 
can't  be  afraid  that  I  shall  become  a  drinking  man  ?  " 

The  mother  reached  out  her  hand,  and  seizing  John's 
arm,  began  to  weep. 


OUR  HERO  AND  HEROINE.  155 

John  went  on :  "  What  has  led  you  to  think  so  ?  What 
is  there  in  me  that  suggests  such  a  danger  ?  " 

"  But,"  exclaimed  the  mother,  clutching  at  John's  arm 
again,  "  do  you  not  sometimes  drink  liquor  ?  " 

With  an  embarrassed  manner,  John  said,  "  I  will  not 
deny  that  I  sometimes  drink  a  social  glass.  You  know 
how  it  is ;  if  a  man  goes  into  society,  he  can't  always 
refuse  to  join  in  social  customs.  One  must  either  shut 
himself  up,  away  from  the  world,  or  if  he  goes  out  into 
it,  he  must  join  in  its  ways.  But  then  I  drink  very  sel- 
dom. And  if  you  and  Mary  wish  me  to  be  a  teetotaler, 
why,  I  will  sign  off  altogether.  I  don't  care  a  fig  for  the 
stuff,  and  I  know  how  it  ruined  my  father.  The  fact  is, 
I  hate  it,  and  I  wish  it  were  banished  from  society." 

The  good  mother  burst  into  a  flood  of  grateful  tears. 
She  pressed  John's  hand  with  all  her  feeble  strength, 
exclaiming,  — 

"  0,  how  glad  I  am  to  hear  you  say  so  !  How  happy 
we  shall  all  be  !  God  bless  you,  my  son,  God  bless 
you ! » 

John  rose  and  said,  "  Mrs.  Hart,  please  say  to  Mary 
that  I  will  come  in  at  eight  o'clock,  and  we  will  try  that 
new  song." 

John  stepped  out  at  the  front  door,  and  Mrs.  Hart,  on 
opening  that  into  the  sitting-room, .found  her  daughter 
standing  near  the  door,  pale  and  trembling.  Poor  child, 
when  she  came  down  stairs  she  saw  at  once  what  was 
going  on,  and  had  been  listening.  She  was  not  the  sort 
of  person  to  listen  at  a  key-hole,  but  could  not  help  it. 
She  had  heard  every  word,  and  was  sure  that  John's 
feelings  were  hurt.  She  exclaimed,  — 

"I  would  die  rather  than  hurt  his  feelings.  I  am 
afraid  his  pride  is  wounded.  0,  mother,  I  don't  believe 


156  A  STORY  OF  THE  OHIO  CRUSADE. 

he  will  ever  come  back.  I  heard  every  word.  Mother, 
why  didn't  you  speak  more  gently?  You  know  how 
proud  and  sensitive  he  is." 

Notwithstanding  Mary's  apprehensions,  John  came  at 
eight  o'clock,  just  as  if  nothing  had  happened ;  and 
although  there  was  a  little  less  freedom  than  usual  be- 
tween them,  it  was  evident  that  John  was  not  angry. 
When  the  mother  bade  them  good  night,  and  kissed  her 
daughter,  John  turned  up  his  face,  and  said  softly,  — 

"  Mother,  me  too  ?  " 


AN  UNEXPECTED    VISITOR.  157 


CHAPTER  II. 
AN  UNEXPECTED  VISITOR. 

ON  the  next  Sunday  Mrs.  Hart  had  company  —  her 
nephew,  Frank  Studley,  from  M.  When  John 
dropped  in  after  tea,  as  usual,  it  happened  that  Frank 
was  out  of  the  room.  But  immediately  afterwards  he 
stepped  in,  and  on  seeing  John,  rushed  towards  him, 
exclaiming,  "  Why,  Sanford !  how  are  you  ?  How  the 
dickens  did  you  happen  to  be  here  ?  " 

Mary  had  risen  as  Frank  entered,  her  face  aglow  with 
the  joy  of  introducing  her  cousin  to  her  lover,  and  was 
quite  taken  aback  with  this  strange  recognition,  and  with 
hearing  John  addressed  as  Sanford.  Immediately,  and 
before  there  was  time  for  explanation,  John  said  to 
Frank,  — 

"  Won't  you  please  step  in  here  a  moment ;  "  and  they 
passed  into  the  parlor.  The  ladies  were  bewildered. 
What  could  it  all  mean  ?  They  had  only  time  to  glance 
into  each  other's  astonished  faces,  when  the  gentlemen 
came  back ;  and  with  forced  gayety,  John  explained  that 
it  was  all  a  joke  ;  and  the  ladies,  although  greatly  puz- 
zled, were  satisfied  that  the  mystery  involved.no  disgrace 
or  wrong  ;  for  had  they  not  known  John  all  his  life  ? 

John  and  Mary  sang  a  number  of  songs,  and  at  an  early 
hour  John  invited  Frank  to  take  a  walk.  Frank  re- 
turned after  a  little  while,  and  found  the  ladies  anxion&U' 


158  A   STORY  OF  THE  OHIO  CRUSADE. 

awaiting  him.  He  declared  that  the  whole  thing  was  a 
big  joke,  and  no  harm  done.  The  mother  pleaded  with 
Frank  to  explain,  but  he  would  tell  her  nothing.  Mary 
was  satisfied  that  it  was,  as  Frank  said,  some  joke  among 
young  fellows;  but  where  the  two  young  men  could 
have  met  before  she  could  not  divine,  for  her  cousin  had 
not  visited  them  in  a  number  of  years,  and  had  resided 
in  a  distant  state  until  his  settlement  in  M.,  a  half 
year  before.  Frank  left  for  his  home  the  next  morn- 
ing, and  in  the  evening  John  came  after  tea  as  usual, 
but  he  had  never  before  brought  such  a  face  and  man- 
ner. He  was  pale,  unsteady,  and  nervous.  Mary  ral- 
lied him,  but  he  would  immediately  fall  back  into  a 
moody  silence.  Mary  took  her  seat  by  his  side,  and 
leaned  her  head  upon  his  breast.  John  pressed  her  to 
his  heart,  and  then  suddenly  sprang  to  his  feet,  walked 
nervously  back  and  forth  across  the  room,  and  stopped 
suddenly  to  gaze  out  of  the  window,  when  Mary  put  her 
arms  about  him,  and  bursting  into  tears,  implored  him  to 
tell  her  his  trouble. 

Suddenly  folding  his  arms,  and  standing  firm  and 
resolute,  he  saidf — 

"  Call  in  your  mother.     I  have  something  to  tell  you." 

The  mother  was  summoned,  and  John  asked  them  to 
sit  together  in  seats  which  he  indicated,  and  then  turn- 
ing partly  from  them,  and  pressing  his  folded  arms 
tightly  across  his  chest,  bowing  his  head  and  looking,  on 
the  floor,  he  spoke  in  a  hard,  dry  voice  :  — 

"  God  helping  me  I  will  tell  you  all.  I  did  not  intend 
to  say  a  word,  for  I  thought  that  after  our  marriage 
Mary's  love  would  help  me  out  of  my  troubles ;  but  last 
night  I  saw  my  father  just  as  plain  as  I  ever  saw  him 
when  he  was  alive,  and  with  the  saddest  face  I  ever 


AN  UNEXPECTED    VISITOR.  159 

looked  at;  he  charged -me  to  come  to  you  and  confess 
everything.  From  that  hour,  although  it  was  early  in 
the  night,  I  have  not  slept  a  moment,  and  have  been 
trying  to  frame  the  words  in  which  to  make  my  dread- 
ful confession.  About  six  months  ago  my  demon  came 
again,  but  I  determined  not  to  submit.  I  fought  and 
struggled  for  nearly  a  week,  but  it  was  of  no  use,  and  I 
saw  I  should  disgrace  myself  with  you,  and  so  I  hurried 
to  M.,  and  taking  a  room  at  the  Hotel,  I  ob- 
tained a  gallon  of  brandy,  went  to  my  room  and  began. 
Just  as  soon  as  I  recovered  from  one  insensibility  I 
drank  till  I  became  insensible  again,  and  so  I  went  on 
for  six  days  and  nights.  Then  my  stomach  became 
dreadful,  and  the  craving  passed  away.  During  the 
two  or  three  days  while  I  was  learning  to  eat  again,  and 
getting  ready  to  return  home,  I  became  acquainted  with 
Mr.  Studley.  I  was  known  in  M.  as  Mr.  Sanford. 

"  After  about  three  months  the  horrid  thirst  began  to 
come  on  again.  I  struggled  a  few  days,  and  then  went 
back  to  M.  to  repeat  my  dreadful  debauch.  Be- 
tween these  two  visits  to  M.,  I  drank  some  spirits 
every  day,  because  a  doctor  in  M.,  whom  I  consulted, 
thought  if,  when  I  did  not  crave  it,  I  would  drink  a 
little  daily,  it  might  prevent  the  periodical  attacks.  And 
since  the  second  visit  to  M.  I  have  been  trying  a 
little  brandy  every  day,  hoping  it  might  drive  away  my 
cursed  enemy.  And  now  this  fiend  is  upon  me  .again. 
I  shall  struggle  for  a  few  days,  but  I  know  how  it  will 
end.  I  shall  go  away  somewhere,  get  a  gallon  of  brandy, 
and  in  a  debauch  drown  out  this  cursed  devil." 

Mrs.  Hart  and  Mary  were  sobbing  on  each  other's 
necks. 


160  A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO  CRUSADE. 

John  went  on  with  the  same  dry,  hard,  monotonous 
voice :  — 

"  For  years  I  have  pretended  to  go  several  times  a 
year  to  visit  my  uncle  in  Cincinnati.  I  have  no  uncle 
there,  and  have  never  been  in  that  city  in  my  life.  At 
those  times  I  went  to  a  small  village  thirty  miles  from 
here,  where  I  always  did  just  as  in  M. 

"  From  my  father  I  inherited  this  dreadful  longing, 
and  nothing  but  death  can  release  me.  Gladly  would  I 
part  with  my  eyes,  or  my  arms,  to  get  rid  of  it ;  but  it  is 
all  useless  and  hopeless.  I  am  sure  you  would  think  it 
the  most  horrible  insanity  if  you  could  only  see  me  when 
I  crawl  away  by  myself,  after  I  have  resisted  the  crav- 
ing as  long  as  I  can ;  and  locking  the  door,  and  feeling  I 
am  secure,  I  take  my  demijohn  in  my  hands  and  begin. 
If  you  could  look  in  upon  me  then,  and  know  with  what 
a  devilish  delight  I  am  filled,  that  I  would  go  on  drink- 
ing, drinking,  if  I  knew  it  would  kill  mother,  and  Mary, 
and  myself,  and  send  my  soul  to  hell,  —  if  you  could  only 
see  and  know  all  this,  you  would  know  that  it  is  a  mad- 
ness, an  utter  madness." 

With  clinched  fist  and  a  face  terrible  to  look  upon, 
John  moved  quickly  towards  the  door,  and  then  turning 
towards  the  two  women  who  were  weeping  and  sobbing, 
he  said,  in  a  low,  quivering  voice,  — 

"  Farewell,  Mary.  I  am  not  fit  to  be  the  husband  of 
the  vilest  woman  on  earth,  and  to  marry  you,  the  best, 
sweetest  and  noblest  being  I  ever  knew  —  never  !  never  ! 
never ! !  Farewell.  God  bless  you ;  farewell.  I  am 
going,  I  am  going  to  hell." 

He  opened  the  door  and  fled 

Mrs.  Hart,  although  a  delicate  invalid,  was  strong  in 
an  emergency.  Leaving  Mary  at  home,  she  went  direct- 


AN  UNEXPECTED    VISITOR.  161 

ly  to  widow  Lane's,  and  found  her  bowed  and  silent, 
waiting  for  her  son  to  come  down  from  his  chamber. 

Mrs.  Hart  stepped  quickly  to  Mrs.  Lane's  side,  and 
kneeling,  said  in  a  low,  tender  voice,  — 

"  My  sister,  I  know  all.  John  has  told  us  everything. 
Shall  you  let  him  go  ?  Now  that  we  understand,  why 
cannot  he  stay  at  home  ?  I  have  been  reading  a  paper 
by  Dr.  Siwel  Oid,  in  which  he  says  that  periodical 
drunkenness  is  a  disease,  and  may  be  cured.  I  am  con- 
vinced he  is  right.  Let  me  see  John.  Let  rne^mplore 
him  to  remain  at  home.  I  would  beg  him  to  go  to  our 
house  and  stay,  but  this,  I  fear,  he  would  not  do ;  but 
surely  he  can  stay  here  with  his  own  mother,  and  you 
and  I  can  help  him  through.  Poor  fellow,  he  is  nearly 
wild.  I  assure  you  I  believe  in  what  Dr.  Siwel  Oid 
says  about  the  cure  of  this  dreadful  madness." 

Just  then  heavy  footsteps  were  heard  coming  down 
stairs.  As  John  opened  the  door  into  the  sitting-room, 
Mrs.  Hart  met  him,  and  throwing  her  arms  about  him, 
exclaimed,  — 

"  My  dear  son,  let  me  plead  with  you !  Don't  go 
away  !  Don't  go  off  among  strangers  !  " 

"  But,  my  mother  ?  "  said  John,  turning  towards  hia 
mother. 

"  0,"  exclaimed  the  poor  mother,  in  a  low,  wailing 
tone,  "  I  have  done  wrong.  I  lived  with  one  drunkard 
almost  twenty-five  years,  and  I  have  told  John  that  I 
would  not  live  with  another.  But  I  now  see  it  is  all 
wrong.  God  forgive  me." 

Rising,  the  weeping,  despairing  mother  went  quickly 
to  her  son,  and  taking  him  by  the  hand,  cried  out,  — 

"  If  you  must  do  this  dreadful  thing,  if  you  can't  resist 
it,  do  stay  at  home,  and  let  us  take  care  of  you." 
11 


162          A   STORY  OF  THE  OHIO   CRUSADE. 

With  a  sudden  burst  of  feeling  John  clasped  his 
mother  in  his  arms,  and  said  moaningly, — 

"  My  poor,  dear,  heart-broken  mother !  Would  to  God 
I  were  in  my  grave." 

The  juices  had  long  since  gone  out  of  poor  Mrs.  Lane's 
heart.  She  only  waited  'for  death,  but  this  unusual  emo- 
tion towards  her  on  the  part  of  her  son  visibly  touched 
her,  and  she  replied  to  his  fond  caress  and  tender 
words,  — 

"  My^on,  if  you  will  .stay,  I  will  do  all  I  can  for  you." 

John  walked  slowly  to  a  chair  in  the  corner  of  the 
room,  and  burying  his  face  in  his  hands,  moaned  out, — 

u  0,  why  was  I  ever  born  ?  Why  can't  I  hide  myself 
in  the  grave  ?  " 

The  women  had  joined  hands,  fallen  on  their  knees, 
and  amid  groans  and  sobs  were  trying  to  pray. 


A    TERRIBLE  STRUGGLE.  163 


CHAPTER  III. 
A    TERRIBLE    STRUGGLE. 

JOHN  started  up  at  length,  and  exclaimed,— 
"  Mother,  if  I  am  to  stay  at  home,  I  will  make 
one   more   desperate   struggle.      I  will  go  to  my  room 
at  once,  and  I  wish  you  would  send   for  Swartz,  the 
blacksmith." 

When  Mr.  Swartz  came,  John  took  him  into  his  confi- 
dence, and  begged  him  to  put  iron  bars  on  the  window, 
and  a  strong  bar  and  lock  on  the  outside  of  the  door. 

Before  dark  the  next  night  the  work  was  completed, 
and  John  Lane  was  locked  in  his  room,  his  mother,  Mrs. 
Hart,  and  Mary  sitting  with  him;  while  Mary  was  read- 
ing from  the  work  of  Dr.  Siwel  Oid  on  the  "  Cure  of 
Drunkenness."  Among  others,  she  read  the  following 
paragraphs :  — 

"The  use  of  tobacco  in  any  form  produces  a  thirst 
which  simple  drinks  will  not  satisfy.  This  narcotic 
poison  generally  excites  a  thirst  for  strong  drink,  and 
must  be  abandoned  as  preliminary  to  the  cure  of  drunk- 
enness." 

And  again  Mary  read,  — 

"  Our  wretched  food  provokes  an  unnatural  thirst.. 
The  miserable  fries  and  grease  and  abominable  com- 
pounds, the  rich  and  indigestible  desserts,  —  in  brief, 


164          A   STORY  OF  THE  OHIO   CRUSADE. 

the  vile  stuffs  which  we  eat,  —  produce  a  thirst  that 
nothing  relieves  like  alcoholic  stimulus. 

"  Plain,  well-cooked  food  would  do  more  for  the  tem- 
perance cause  than  all  the  societies  in  the  world." 

When  the  ladies  were  about  to  leave  for  the  nighty 
John  said  to  Mary,  in  a  voice  of  unusual  emotion,  — 

"  Mary,  you  and  these  good  mothers  must  help  me. 
I  know  you  will;  I  believe  you  would  all  die  for  me, 
if  need  be.  Mary,  I  believe  what  this  author  says  is 
true.  I  wish  you  would  get  some  paper,  and  write  a 
pledge  for  me." 

The  paper  was  quickly  .brought,  and  Mary  took  the 
pen  in  hand,  and  wrote  while  John  dictated  the  following 
pledge.  Mary  was  a  good  writer,  but  when  she  showed 
me  that  pledge  some  months  afterwards  in  a  golden 
frame  in  her  own  beautiful  parlor,  she  explained  that  the 
penmanship  was  not  a  good  sample  of.  her  writing,  for 
her  hand  trembled  so  that  night,  and  her  eyes  were  so 
full  of  tears,  that  she  could  neither  see  the  line  nor 
make  good  letters.  It  read, — 

"  I  will  never  use  tobacco  again  so  long  as  I  live ;  so 
help  me  God. 

"  JOHN  LANE. 
"Witness,  MARY  HART." 

When  this  pledge  was  signed  and  witnessed,  John 
said,  in  a  low,  trembling  voice, — 

"  I  have  never  prayed,  but  now  I  ask  you  all  to  kneel, 
and  I  want  Mary  to  pray  for  me." 

Mary  said,  "  0,  John,  I  never  made  a  prayer  in  my 
life."  " 

John  gazed  into  her  face  with  an  unutterable  love, 


A    TERRIBLE  STRUGGLE.  165 

and  whispered,  "  My  darling,  pray  for  me.  1  know  God 
will  hear  yo u." 

Going  to  John,  and  putting  her  arm  about  him,  tfyey 
knelt  together,  the  two  mothers  kneeling  down  by 
John,  and  putting  their  hands  on  his  head  and  shoul- 
ders. Mary  sobbed  out, — 

"  Dear  God,  help  John.  0,  help  him !  0,  thou  canst 
help  him,  and  he  can't  help  himself.  And,  dear  God, 
help  us  to  help  him,  to  cling  to  him,  to  love  him  with 
all  our  hearts.  Dear  Jesus,  if  we  lose  John  we  lose 
everything.  0,  wilt  thou  help  him,  and  help  us  to 
help  him  ! " 

Poor  John  groaned  "  Amen  "  at  every  sentence ;  and 
the  two  mothers  constantly  sobbed  "  Amen.  God  help 
him ! " 

Then  John  made  his  first  prayer. 

"  Great  God,  I  have  always  tried  to  help  myself,  but 
I  can't  fetch  it.  You  can  help  me  j  and  if  ever  a  poor 
devil  needed  help,  I  need  it  now.  0,  great  God,  I  give 
my  case  up  into  your  hands.  I  have  tried  to  do  right 
all  by  myself,  but  I  find  it's  no  use.  0,  God,  take  me 
into  your  strong  arms,  and  carry  me  through  this  trou- 
ble, and  I  will  try  never  to  do  wrong  again,  as  long  as 
1  live." 

While  John  was  uttering  this  extraordinary  prayer, 
Mary  had  her  arms  about  his  neck,  and  the  two  mothers 
their  hands  upon  his  head,  and  were  sobbing  out,  "Amen. 
God  help  him.  0,  help  him  !  " 

When  they  had  risen  and  taken  seats,  and  were  more 
calm,  Mrs.  Hart  said,  "  John,  you  have  gone  to  the  right 
source  for  help.  We  will  pray  for  you  constantly,  and, 
John,  you  must  pray  for  yourself.  God  will  hear  you, 
and  he  will  help  you." 


1G\J          A  STORY  OF  THE  OHIO  CRUSADE. 

They  sat  a  little  time  in  silence  ;  then  Mary  went  tim- 
idly to  John,  put  her  arm  about  his  neck,  and  said, 
"  John,  may  I  not  write  a  pledge  against  strong  drink 
for  you?" 

John  released  himself  from  her,  sprang  to  his  feet,  and 
walking  rapidly  back  and  forth  through  the  room,  said, 
"  No ;  I  will  not  sign  such  a  pledge,  for  I  know  I  should 
break  it.  I  must  not  pledge  myself  before  God,  and' 
then  break  it,  or  everything  will  be  gone." 

John  then  urged  the  ladies  to  retire  and  leave  him  for 
the  night.  Mr.  Swartz  was  at  hand  to  assist.  He  care- 
fully locked  the  door,  and  remained  in  the  house  during 
the  night.  John's  last  instructions  for  the  night  were 
these :  — 

"  No  matter  what  I  may  say  or  do,  for  ten  days  I  am 
not  to  leave  this  room.  My  madness  is  sure  to  last  as 
long  as  that.  If  I  become  wild  and  furious,  let  some 
strong  men  control  me.  I  don't  know  that  there  is  any 
danger  of  such  extremes ;  but,  remember,  I  charge  you 
not  to  let  me  out." 

The  next  morning,  very  early,  John  knocked  loudly 
on  the  door,  and  the  three  women  (for  Mrs.  Hart  and 
her  daughter  had  remained  during  the  night)  rose 
quickly,  having  rested  without  undressing,  ran  up  stairs, 
and  listened  to  a  conversation  between  John  and  Mr. 
Swartz. 

The  ladies  knew  that  John  had  been  walking  the  floor 
all  night,  but  they  were  not  prepared  for  the  strange 
change  which  had  come  over  him.  He  was  actually 
pleading  with  Swartz  to  let  him  out.  He  said  to 
Swartz,  — 

"  This  is  all  nonsense.     I  never  was  more  rational  in 


A    TERRIBLE  STRUGGLE.  167 

my  life.  The  idea  of  my  being  here  behind  these  bais, 
like  a  criminal !  It  is  absurd." 

Mary  spoke  up  and  reminded  him  that  last  night  he 
told  them  that  if  they  let  him  out  of  this  room  in  less 
than  ten  days,  he  would  never  forgive  them ;  and  then 
she  said,  — 

"  I  will  bring  you  some  breakfast  with  coffee,  just  as 
soon  as  it  can  be  got  ready." 

John  replied,  in  an  altered  tone,  "  0,  Mary  !  I  did  not 
know  you  were  here.  Excuse  me."  Then  walking 
quickly  across  the  room,  he  threw  himself  heavily  on 
his  bed,  and  began  to  groan. 

As  soon  as  the  breakfast  was  ready,  Mary  brought  it 
to  the  door,  and  calling  John,  she  asked,  — 

"  Will  you  promise  me  not  to  take  any  advantage  of 
our  opening  the  door  when  I  bring  in  the  breakfast  ? " 

John  replied,  "  I  promise  to  take  no  advantage  of  you, 
ever,  in  any  way." 

Mary  said  to  Mr.  Swartz,  "  Open  the  door.  It  is  per- 
fectly safe.71 

Mr.  Swartz  whispered,  "  He  will  jump  right  out,  I'll 
bet  you." 

The  padlock  was  unfastened,  the  heavy  bar  taken 
down,  and  Mary  passed  in  with  her  tray. 

It  was  determined  that  watchers,  strong  men,  should 
stay  in  John's  room.  The  doctor  was  called,  and  among 
other  things  advised  hot  baths.  The  great  bath-tub 
was  procured,  and  the  neighbors  who  volunteered,  with 
two  hired  men,  gave  him  baths,  and  then  rubbed  his 
skin  by  the  hour  with  their  naked  hands  ;  but  John  was 
terribly  excited.  On  the  fourth  morning,  the  hour  when 
the  poor  fellow  seemed  to  be  the  worst,  he  made  a  des- 
perate attempt  to  escape.  Two  men  were  at  the  door 


168          A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO  CRUSADE. 

on  the  outside,  and  two  watchers  inside.  The  ladies  had 
been  trying  to  get  a  little  sleep.  When  the  door  was 
unlocked,  John  made  a  sudden  plunge  ;  all  the  four  men 
got  hold  of  him,  but  he  extricated  himself,  ran  down 
stairs,  and  was  rushing  toward  the  front  gate,  when  he 
met  Mary  just  coming  from  her  home.  She  raised  her 
arms,  and  cried, — 

" 0,  John  !  " 

He  let  her  take  hold  of  his  arm,  and  lead  him  back  to 
his  room. 


THE  DAY  DAWNS.  169 


CHAPTER  IY.  , 

THE  DAY  DAWNS. 

ON  tbe  eighth  night  John  slept  soundly  and  long,  and 
awoke  in  a  profuse  perspiration.  After  a  long  con- 
sultation with  the  doctor,  Mary  went  up  to  John,  with  a 
bounding  heart,  to  ask  him  to  drive  with  her.  John  was 
languid,  cold,  and  weak,  but  this  proposition  surprised 
him  into/  new  life. 

During  the  ride  John  said,  — 

"  My  demon  has  gone  out  of  me.  I  shall  never  pass 
through  another  such  struggle." 

They  stopped  to  rest  at  the  house  of  a  friend,  and 
while  there  heard  read  from  a  local  paper  the  wonderful 
news  from  Washington  C.  H.  and  Hillsboro'.  On  the 
way  home  John  said  to  his  companion,  — 

"  I  believe  this  is  providential.  You  and  our  mothers 
have  saved  me  from  a  fate  tenfold  worse  than  death. 
Women  must  save  men  from  intemperance.  These 
women  in  Washington  and  Hillsboro'  are  doing  the  right 
thing.  Now,  why  can't  we  in  D.  have  something  of 
that  kind  started  ?  I  am  sure  our  women  are  good  and 
brave  enough.  I  feel  that  I  should  be  safe  if  we  could 
only  have  a  temperance  movement  in  which  I  could  take 
a  part.  If  I  could  take  hold  to  help  other  people,  I  am 
sure  I  should  be  safe.  This  helping  other  people  to 
keep  out  of  a  pit,  helps  you  to  keep  your  eyes  open,  and 


170          A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO  CRUSADE. 

to  keep  out  yourself.  And  then,  Mary,  I  have  never  felt, 
after  one  of  those  attacks,  as  I  feel  now.  My  nerves  are 
calm.  I  believe  that  tobacco  has  kept  the  fires  smoul- 
dering in  me ;  and  then  what  that  Dr.  Siwel  Oid  says 
about  the  influence  of  our  diet  stands  to  reason.  If 
our  food  is  rich  and  indigestible,  of  course  it  produces 
a  thirst  which  simple  water  is  not  likely  to  satisfy. 
I  tell  you,  Mary,  that  with  the  tobacco  poison  out  of 
me,  and  a  good,  simple  table,  and  careful  attention  to  the 
other  laws  of  which  he  speaks,  —  such  as  the  morning 
bath,  plenty  of  good  sleep,  and  exercise  in  the  open  air, 
—  I  tell  you,  my  Mary,  that  if  now,  in  addition,  we  can 
make  a  good  effort  to  save  drunkards,  and  I  can  have  a 
hand  in  it,  I  shall  be  as  safe  as  a  mouse  in  a  mill.  And 
this  new  movement  seems  to  me  to  promise  great  things. 
Ah,  my  darling,  light  begins  to  break  through.  I  begin 
to  see  my  way  out." 

Just  as  he  was  leaving  Mary  at  her  own  house,  he  said, 
"  Mary,  if  you  please,  I  will  bring  mother  over  this  even- 
ing, and  you  may  write  that  pledge  against  strong  drink, 
and  I  will  sign  it." 

With  quivering  lips  and  streaming  eyes,  Mary  looked 
upward,  and  exclaimed,  "  Thank  God  !  I  will  prepare  it 
before  you  come,  and  on  a  large,  handsome  sheet.  And 
I  will  write  the  other  one  over  again,  on  a  large  sheet, 
for  you  to  sign,  and  I  will  see  if  I  can't  write  it  better 
than  before." 

"  No,  Mary,  if  you  please,  that  other  pledge  must  not 
be  touched.  As  long  as  we  live  we  will  keep  it  just  as 
it  is.  I  have  hung  it  up  on  the  wall  near  my  bed.  It 
seems  to  me  to  be  covered  all  over  with  bright  golden 
letters  —  the  words  of  your  prayer  that  first  night. 
And,  Mary,  I  have  tried  to  pray  every  night,  kneeling 


THE  DA  Y  DA  WNS.  171 

down  before  that  pledge.  I  suppose  I  ought  to  shut  my 
eyes,  but  I  don't ;  I  keep  them  fixed  on  that  precious 
pledge,  all  bright  with  your  beautiful,  loving  prayer." 

That  evening  there  was  a  meeting  at  Mrs.  Hart's, 
in  which  the  tears,  and  prayers,  and  love  of  the  night  at 
Mrs.  Lane's,  when  the  anti-tobacco  pledge  was  signed, 
were  gone  all  over  again. 

When  the  pledge  against  strong  drink  was  signed, 
Mary  said,  — 

"  John,  ask  your  mother  to  pray  with  us." 

"  No,  Mary,"  said  John ;  "  God  will  hear  you  better 
than  any  one  else,  when  it  is  for  me." 


172         A  STORY  OF  THE  OHIO  CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE  GREAT  REVIVAL  BEGINS. 

next  day  John  Lane  brought  his  mother  over  to 
J_  Mrs.  Hart's,  to  talk  about  the  new  temperance  move- 
ment. After  reading  the  glowing  accounts  in  the  news- 
papers, John  exclaimed  with  enthusiasm,  — 

% "  Now  what's  the  reason  you  women  can't  start  that 
movement  in  D.  ?  God  knows  there  is  need  enough 
of  it.  Here  we  have  a  population  of  less  than  three 
thousand,  and  at  least  twenty  groggeries.  Surely  I  need 
say  nothing  of  the  poverty  and  domestic  misery  coming 
out  of  these  miserable  holes.  Let's  call  a  meeting  to- 
morrow night.  I  am  sure  they  will  let  us  hold  it  in  the 
Methodist  church.  I  hear  Mr.  Blaine,  their  minister,  is 
very  much  excited  about  it." 

The  meeting  was  held  the  following  evening.  The 
church  was  crowded,  and  many  passionate  speeches  were 
made. 

To  everybody's  surprise,  quiet  little  Mrs.  Hart  rose  at 
the  close  of  the  meeting,  and  moved  that  we  organize 
the  "  Woman's  Crusade,"  immediately,  to-night. 

The  motion  was  carried  with  loud  acclamation. 

The  chairman,  Mr.  Blaine,  suggested,  if  the  women 
were  about  to  organize  a  Woman's  Crusade,  it  might  be 
best  for  the  men  to  retire. 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL  BEGINS.  173 

"  No,"  exclaimed  little  Mrs.  Hart ;  "  we  want  every- 
body to  help." 

The  details  of  organization  had  not  yet  been  distinctly 
published,  and  there  was  much  doubt  about  methods. 

At  length  little  Mrs.  Hart  rose  again,  and  said, — 

"  You  know,  dear  friends,  that  I  never  speak  in  pub- 
lic, but  the  spirit  of  God  has  impressed  me  to  say  a  few 
words  just  now.  We  learn  from  the  newspapers  that 
the  women  go  to  the  rumsellers  and  plead  and  pray  with 
them.  Let  us  organize  and  begin.  If  we  make  mis- 
takes, we  can  correct  them  when  we  learn  a  better  way. 
I  move  that  we  appoint  a  committee  of  ten  women  from 
each  of  the  churches.  I  am  sure  there  are  ten  women 
in  our  church  who  would  be  very  glad  to  go  into  this 
work." 

Mrs.  Squire  Edmonds,  who  was  sitting  by  her  hus- 
band's side,  and  evidently  acting  under  his  instructions, 
moved  that  the  meeting  select  the  chairman  of  each  of 
these  committees,  and  then  ask  her  to  name  the  other 
nine  members.  Mrs.  Edmonds  said  in  explanation  that 
a  prominent  woman  in  a  church,  accustomed  to  works 
of  benevolence,  would  be  much  more  likely  to  know  the 
working  members  of  her  church,  than  a  meeting  like 
this.  This  was  approved  as  a  very  happy  suggestion, 
and  in  half  an  hour  five  committees,  of  ten  earnest 
women  each,  were  elected.  One  of  these  committees  was 
from  the  Catholic  church,  and  turned  out  to  be  one  of 
the  most  effective. 

Mrs.  Hart,  who  was  made  chairman  of  the  committee 
from  the  Methodist  church,  asked  permission  to  name  on 
her  committee  three  ladies  who  were  not  members  of 
any  church,  and  Mrs.  Lane,  who  was  a  Universalist. 

Some  general  suggestions  were  made  in  regard  to  the 


174          A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO  CRUSADE. 

management  of  the  committees  in  visiting  the  dram- 
shops, but  finally  it  was  concluded  that  every  committee 
should  be  left  to  its  own  discretion.  It  was  the  general 
understanding  that  they  should  reason,  plead,  and  pray 
with  rumsellers,  and  report  progress  at  a  public  meeting, 
to  be  held  at  the  same  church,  on  the  following  evening. 

When  the  meeting  was  about  to  adjourn,  John  Lane 
rose,  though,  like  most  of  the  speakers,  he  had  never 
said  a  word  in  a  public  meeting  before,  and  said,  — 

"  Mr.  Chairman :  I  hope  this  meeting  won't  dissolve 
without  setting  the  men  to  work.  It  seems  to  me  rather 
mean  to  ask  the  women  to  do  it  all.  Set  the  men  at  it. 
I  move,  if  the  women  are  going  to  take  charge  of  the 
rumsellers,  that  the  men  look  after  the  drinkers.  I  think 
that  would  be  a  good  division  of  labor,  and  would  work 
first  rate.  So  I  move,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  we  appoint 
ten  committees,  of  two  men  each,  to  go  out  and  look  up 
the  drinkers,  and  report  at  the  meeting  here  to-morrow 
evening." 

Several  persons  thought  it  might  work  well,  and  so 
the  motion  was  carried,  and  the  ten  committees  were 
selected.  Ten  earnest  men  were  first  selected,  and  they 
were  instructed  to  name  their  companions,  who  were 
then  endorsed  by  the  meeting. 

The  committees,  women  and  men,  all  met  the  next  morn- 
ing at  nine  o'clock,  at  the  ringing  of  the  bell,  in  the  same 
church,  for  a  prayer  meeting,  and  to  divide  the  town. 

When  the  hour  for  the  meeting  in  the  evening  ar- 
rived, it  was  obvious  that  the  Methodist  church  would 
not  hold  half  of  the  people,  and  so  the  Presbyterian  bell 
was  rung,  and  it  was  announced  that  the  male  committees 
would  make  their  reports  at  the  other  church.  Of  course 
the  women  at  the  Methodist  church  were  the  great 
attraction. 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL  BEGINS.  175 

Mrs.  Hart  made  the  first  report.     She  said,  — 

"  We  called  first  on  old  Mr.  Jakes.  He  received  us 
very  politely.  We  talked  with  him  for  some  time.  He 
did  not  dispute  us  when  we  said  that  drink  was  the 
cause  of  nearly  all  our  troubles.  But  he  contended  that 
his  place  was  not  half  as  bad  as  some  others.  We  asked 
him,  before  we  left,  if  we  might  sing  a  verse,  and  make  a 
prayer.  He  made  no  objections ;  so  we  sang  one  verse 
of  '  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee ' :  and  then  we  all  knelt 
while  Mrs.  Thompson  led  in  prayer.  We  offered  the 
pledge  which  we  had  prepared  for  dealers  to  sign,  in 
which  they  pledge  themselves  before  God  that  they  will 
never  again  sell  intoxicating  drinks.  He  declined  to 
sign  the  paper,  but  promised  to  think  of  it. 

"  We  went  next  to  Poulson's  saloon,  but  it  was  shut 
up,  and  the  curtains  let  down,  just  before  we  reached  it. 
Stopping  at  the  door  we  sang  a  verse  of  '  A  charge  to 
keep  I  have/  <fcc.,  and  then  went  to  '  The  Shades.'  Billy 
Spooner  came  to  the  door  to  receive  us,  and  very  politely 
invited  us  in,  and  asked  what  we  would  have  to  drink* 
We  talked  with  him  for  some  time,  and  then  asked  him 
if  we  might  sing  and  pray.  He  said  that  nothing  was 
so  much  needed  in  his  establishment  as  prayer,  and  he 
hoped  we  would  drop  in  often.  He  declined  to  sign  our 
dealer's  pledge,  but  said  in  case  he  concluded  to  do  so, 
he  would  call  upon  us. 

"  We  then  went  to  Richards's  wholesale  liquor  house. 
He  received  us  with  cold  politeness,  and  went  on  writing 
in  his  large  account-book.  He  not  only  declined  to  sign 
our  dealer's  pledge,  but  would  prefer  we  should  not  sing 
or  pray  in  his  place  of  business,  and  advised  us  not  to 
call  again. 

"  We  then  called  at  the  little  shanty  known  as  '  The 


176  A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO   CRUSADE. 

International/  It  is  kept  by  Mr.  Johnson,  a  colored 
man.  He  was  extremely  polite  to  us,  and  when  we  had 
finished  praying,  to  our  astonishment  he  himself  engaged 
in  a  most  devout  prayer.  And  when  we  sang  he  joined 
with  us,  and  sang  louder  than  any  of  us,  and  promised 
that  if  the  white  gentlemen  would  stop  selling,  he  would." 

Although  this  report  of  Mrs.  Hart  was  not  especially 
encouraging,  still  Mr.  Elaine  thought  it  was  wonderful 
that  they  were  not  insulted  and  hustled  out. 

The  reports  of  the  other  women  were  not  unlike  Mrs. 
Hart's.  Several  of  the  places  were  closed  against  them. 
Squire  Edmonds,  who  was  present  at  the  women's  meet- 
ing, and  who  knew  more  about  things  than  the  rest  of 
them,  suggested  that  a  committee  of  three  women  should 
be  elected  to  call  upon  all  the  business  men  in  town,  to 
get  their  names  to  a  pledge  to  close  their  places  of  busi- 
ness every  morning  at  nine  o'clock,  or  at  the  ringing  of 
the  bells,  that  everybody  might  assemble  in  the  churches 
to  pray  an  hour  for  the  success  of  the  Crusade.  This, 
contrary  to  general  opinion,  it  was  found  very  easy  to 
carry  in  a  vote,  and  to  accomplish,  in  fact.  The  business 
men  did  not  like  to  stand  out  against  popular  feeling, 
and  then  they  thought  that  if  all  closed,  each  would  get 
his  own  share  of  business. 

I  had  almost  forgotten  to  tell  you  of  the  reports  of  the 
men's  committees  at  the  Presbyterian  church. 

John  Lane  reported  that  he  and  his  partner,  James 
Peabody,  called  first  on  Michael  O'Reilly,  over  in  the 
"  Sandbank."  For  a  wonder,  they  found  Mike  sober ;  but 
when  they  told  him  of  their  errand,  the  stout  fellow 
ordered  them  out.  But  at  length  they  secured  a  patient 
listening.  He  then  acknowledged  that  what  they  said 
of  the  great  harm  of  whiskey  was  all  true ;  that  it  was 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL  BEGINS.  177 

the  great  curse  of  his  people,  and  made  it  easy  for  the 
English  to  rule  over  them.  When  we  asked  him  to  sign 
the  teetotal  pledge,  he  said  he  would  think  of  it.  We 
urged  him,  and  promised  to  stand  by  him  like  brothers. 
He  signed  at  last,  and  he  is  here  to-night.  I  asked  him 
to  say  before  this  meeting,  whether  he  intends  to  keep 
this  pledge.  Michael  rose  in  the  midst  of  great  enthusi- 
asm, and  said,  — 

"  God  helping  me,  I  will  keep  my  pledge." 

John  Lane  crowded  his  way  through  the  aisle  to 
Michael,  and  taking  him  by  the  hand,  exclaimed,  — 

*'  My  brother,  if  you  are  ever  in  trouble,  come  to  me; 
or  send  to  me,  and  I  will  serve  you  to  the  utmost  of  my 
ability.  God  bless  you,  and  help  you  to  keep  the  pledge. 
I  have  just  signed  the  same  pledge  myself,  and  I  intend 
to  keep  it." 

Nearly  all  the  male  committees  made  reports,  which 
were  more  or  less  encouraging.  It  was  agreed  that  each 
committee  among  the  men  would  give  at  least  one  hour 
every  day  to  looking  up  some  drinking  man,  and  with 
brotherly  love  try  to  win  him. 

Both  meetings  adjourned,  and  went  home  full  of  pur- 
pose and  enthusiasm.  The  reports  on  the  next  evening 
were  in  the  presence  of  immense  meetings,  running  over 
with  enthusiasm,  but  no  great  victories  were  announced. 
12 


178  A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO   CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
GLORIOUS  SUCCESS. 

ON  the  fourth  evening  the  report  of  Mrs.  Hart  "  turned 
on  the  tap  in  everybody's  eyes/'  as  the  world's  peo- 
ple phrase  it.  To  use  a  novel  expression,  "there  was 
not  a  dry  eye  in  the  house." 

Standing  up  there  with  her  modest,  pale  face,  she 
repeated,  in  her  low,  sweet  voice,  the  story  of  "  Richards's 
Surrender.'7  The  people  already  knew  all  about  it,  but 
it  was  so  glorious,  that  they  cheered  and  laughed,  and 
cried  all  over  again.  The  story,  much  condensed,  was 
this :  — 

"  We  went  to  Richards's  again  this  morning,  and  he 
received  us  much  as  before,  though  Mrs.  Dame  says  she 
saw  a  tear  in  his  eye,  and  she  noticed  that  when  we 
knelt  to  pray,  a  quick  flush  passed  over  his  face.  When 
we  were  about  to  leave,  we  again  asked  him  if  he  would 
not  sign  our  pledge,  when  he  said,  — 

"  Ladies,  I  shall  be  much  obliged  to  you  if  you  will 
not  call  here  again.  It  annoys  me." 

"  I  told  him,''  said  Mrs.  Hart,  "  that  we  must  do  our 
duty  l  We  believe  God  requires  this  effort  at  our  hands. 
We  must  come  every  day  till  you  close  this  place,  if  it 
takes  a  year.  If  you  admit  us,  as  you  have  so  kindly 
done  thus  far,  we  shall  be  glad  to  come  inside  ;  but  if  you 


GLORIOUS  SUCCESS.  179 

exclude  us,  we  shall  sing  and  pray  on  the  sidewalk,  or  in 
the  street.7 

" '  Ladies/  said  Mr.  Richards,  l  you  don't  mean  to  say 
that  you  intend  to  continue  these  visits  ?  7 

"  '  Yes/  exclaimed  we  all,  '  we  shall  come  every  day 
if  God  lets  us  live,  till  you  close.7 

"l  Then/  said  Mr.  Richards, 1 1  will  close  up  now.7  " 

When  she  reached  this  point,  the  hundreds  present 
sprang  to  their  feet,  and  cheered  till  they  were  exhaust- 
ed, while  the  women,  and  not  a  few  of  the  men,  were 
busy  with  the  tallest  kind  of  boohooing.  When  the  meet- 
ing was  sufficiently  composed  to  permit  Mrs.  Hart  to 
proceed,  she  began  again  ;  but  the  meeting  cried  out,  — 

"  Take  the  platform  !  the  platform  !  the  platform  !  " 

Squire  Edmonds  and  Colonel  Dodge,  the  two  most  re- 
spectable conservatives  in  town,  sprang  forward,  and 
offered  to  conduct  Mrs.  Hart  to  the  platform,  and  when 
they  landed  her  by  the  side  of  the  desk,  and,  bowing, 
were  about  to  retire,  the  audience  cried  out  to  the  two 
gentlemen,  — 

"  Stay  there  !  stay  there  !  " 

Mr.  Elaine,  who  was  presiding,  a  quick-witted  man; 
and,  as  a  Methodist  minister,  quite  accustomed  to  stormy 
meetings,  said  in  a  loud  voice,  — 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  move  that  Colonel  Dodge 
presides  at  this  meeting.77 

Half  the  men  present  seconded  the  motion,  and  a  dozen 
voices  exclaimed,  — 

"  Rising  vote  !  rising  vote  ! 77 

Before  the  chairman  had  time  to  put  the  motion, 
everybody  was  standing  and  cheering,  and  all  but  the 
old  people  and  the  fat  ones  were  up,  on  the  seats,  while 
many  of  the  children  were  lifted  by  their  parents  far 


180  A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO   CRUSADE. 

above  the  general  level.  It  took  the  chairman  some  time 
to  get  the  meeting  seated,  and  then  Colonel  Dodge  rose 
in  his  dignified  way,  and  said,  — 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  you  will  please  excuse  me.  I 
am  not  well,  and  must  ask  to  be  excused/' 

Mrs.  Dame  rose  and  said, — 

'*  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  that  Mrs.  Hart  conduct  Colo- 
nel Dodge  to  the  chair." 

This  caused  a  great  laugh,  and  when  dear  little  Mrs. 
Hart  started  to  come  down  from  the  platform  to  conduct 
the  colonel  to  the  chair,  the  meeting  went  wild.  The 
colonel  could  not  resist  her  gentle  pull  at  his  arm,  though 
he  would  have  given  anything  to  have  been  at  home. 
When  his  tall  form,  red  face,  and  white  cravat  appeared 
on  the  platform,  led  by  Mrs.  Hart,  who  seemed  like  a 
little  child  leading  a  great  man,  the  meeting  became  still 
more  tumultuous.  This  was  the  strangest  thing  that 
ever  happened  in  D.  or  anywhere.  Colonel  Dodge  was 
the  richest  man  in  town,  the  man  of  purest  blood,  his 
grandfather  having  been  a  county  judge ;  the  colonel 
himself  was  a  "  graduate,"  had  an  immense  library,  which 
hardly  any  one  was  allowed  to  enter,  was  a  regular  wine 
drinker,  smiled  contemptuously  at  temperance  people 
and  all  other  lunatics,  and  was  altogether  at  the  very 
head  of  society. 

When  he  walked  up  on  the  platform,  and  was  standing 
before  the  meeting  and  getting  ready  to  speak,  the  en- 
thusiasm knew  no  bounds.  At  length,  when  order  was 
sufficiently  restored,  Colonel  Dodge  said, — 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  this  is  the  first  time  I  ever 
presided  at  a  temperance  meeting.  (Applause.)  But 
you  know  women  will  have  their  own  way.  (Enthusias- 


GLOR.:OUS  SUCCESS.  181 

tic  applause.)  And  now  what  is  the  further  pleasure  of 
the  meeting  ?  " 

"  Report  1  Mrs.  Hart's  report !  "  was  the  cry  from  all 
sides. 

"  The  colonel  turned  to  dear  little,  pale,  timid  Mrs. 
Hart,  and,  with  a  profound  bow,  which  is  popularly  sup- 
posed to  characterize  "  gentlemen  of  the  old  school," 
said,  in  his  grand  style,  "  Madam,  you  will  please  pro- 
ceed with  your  report." 

The  brave  little  woman  stepped  forward,  and  began 
just  where  she  had  left  off. 

"  I  was  just  saying,  when  the  great  shout  began,  that 
Mr.  Richards  said  if  we  had  made  up  our  minds  to 
call  every  day  till  he  stopped,  he  might  as  well  stop  now. 
We  asked  him  if  he  would  sign  our  pledge  never  to  sell 
any  more.  He  declined,  but  said  that  he  would  probably 
not  resume  the  business.  We  asked  him  what  he  was 
going  to  do  with'  his  stock,  which  you  know  was  very 
large.  He  replied  that  he  would  send  it  back  to  Cincin- 
nati. Then  we  began  to  plead  with  him.  We  said, 
*  You  are  a  rich  man,  and  you  have  made  your  money 
out  of  this  dreadful  business.  We  are  trying  to  stop  it. 
We  have  no  hope  of  making  money  out  of  our  effort. 
Now,  you  can  give  us  great  help  if  you  will  only  let  us 
have  your  liquors  to  pour  out  on  the  ground/ 

"  l  But,  ladies,  I  have  a  large  and  valuable  stock,  and 
I  can't  afford  to  throw  it  away.' 

"  We  plead  very  hard  with  him.  We  told  him  if  he 
would  only  let  us  pour  his  stock  into  the  street,  when 
the  news  spread  that  Mr.  Richards  had  given  up,  all  the 
rest  would  give  up  at  once.  Mr.  Richards  then  said, 
with  a  pleasant  smile,  — 

" '  I  will  tell  you  what  I  will  do,  ladies.     If  you  will 


182         A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO  CRUSADE. 

get  the  barrels  out  of  the  cellar  without  asking  the  help 
of  any  man,  I  will  give  them  all  to  you  to  pour  into  the 
street.  If  you  ladies  will  get  them  out  yourselves,  you 
shall  have  them  all.7  (Loud  applause.) 

"  Off  went  our  bonnets,  and  shawls,  and  gloves,  and 
down  we  went  into  the  cellar  (wild  applause),  and  in 
half  an  hour  the  eighteen  barrels  were  all  on  the  side- 
walk. (Wilder  applause.)  Then  the  question  was,  who 
shall  break  in  the  heads  of  the  barrels.  Mrs.  Sewall, 
-who  is  one  of  our  committee,  noticed  in  the  crowd  poor 
Mrs.  Smith,  the  wife  of  Bill  Smith,  and  Mrs.  Sewall  said, 
1  There  is  Mrs.  Smith ;  she  has  lived  in  such  a  hell  for 
twenty  years  with  her  drunken  husband,  let  her  knock 
in  the  heads  of  the  barrels.7  '  But,7  said  Mrs.  Phillips, 
•  there7s  Mrs.  Ben  Jenks ;  she  has  had  a  harder  time,  for 
her  husband  has  nearly  beaten  her  to  death.7 

"  So  it  was  agreed  that  these  two  women  should  have 
the  axes.  (Loud  and  long  applause.)  Some  one  had 
begun  to  ring  the  Methodist  bell,  and  then  they  had 
started  the  other  two  bells,  and  they  rung  them  just  as 
fast  as  they  could.  Then  the  crowd  —  and  everybody 
was  there  —  began  to  sing,  with  wonderful  power,  — 

*  All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name,' 

and,  in  the  midst  of  all  this,  with  weeping,  shouting,  and 
'  Bless  God  ! 7  '  Glory  to  God  ! 7  and  '  Hallelujah  ! 7  from 
hundreds,  the  two  women  began  with  their  axes.  Soon 
the  stuff  was  running  down  the  street ;  some  one  touched 
it  off  with  a  match ;  there  was  a  great  blaze,  a  great 
black  smoke  rolled  up  and  over  the  tops  of  the  buildings 
—  there  never  was  such  another  scene  on  earth.77 

At  this  point  everybody  was  standing,  and  they  could 
hardly  restrain  themselves  till  Mrs.  Hart  had  finished  the 


GLORIOUS  SUCCESS.  183 

above  sentences.  Then  there  was  loud  and  long-con- 
tinued shouting.  Some  one  began, — 

"  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee," 

which  was  sung  to  the  end.  This  calmed  the  intense 
excitement,  and  the  audience  staid  till  eleven  o'clock 
to  hear  the  reports  of  the  several  committees. 

Everybody  was  convinced,  before  they  left  the  house, 
that  Colonel  Dodge  was  right,  when  he  said  from  the 
chair,  — 

"  I  am  convinced,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  we  are  in 
the  midst  of  a  great  and  most  beneficent  revolution." 

Mrs.  Hart  reported  that  when  they  reached  the  shanty 
known  as  the  International,  its  colored  proprietor  said^ 
in  answer  to  their  earnest  invitation  to  sign  the  "  Deal- 
er's Pledge,"  that  if  they  would  have  "  the  bells  rung, 
and  the  crowd  would  come  and  sing  and  shout  just 
as  they  did  at  Mr.  Richards's,  they  might  have  his  stock 
too,  —  every  drop  of  it."  But  he  said  that,  unless  they 
made  just  as  much  fuss  as  they  did  up  at  Mr.  Richards's, 
he  would  not  give  up.  So  the  bells  were  rung,  and  the 
people  came  together  again  and  sang  until  Mr.  Johnson 
was  satisfied ;  and  he  brought  out  his  stock,  which  con- 
sisted of  a  pint  of  whiskey  and  about  three  pints  of  ale. 

I  must  hot  forget  to  say  a  word  of  the  reports  over  at 
the  Presbyterian  church,  from  the  men  committees.  John 
Lane  was  the  mainspring  over  there,  as  was  Mrs.  Hart 
in  the  women's  meeting. 

He  made  a  most  interesting  report  of  success  among 
well-known  hard  cases,  several  of  whom  were  present 
to  speak  for  themselves. 

When  John  announced  that  a  fast  young  man,  known 
as  Jack  Stedman,  had  signed  the  pledge  and  was  present, 


184         A   STORY  OF  THE  OHIO  CRUSADE. 

and  although  he  had  said  he  should  not  speak  a  word,  he 
thought  they  had  better  call  him  out,  the  audience  began 
to  turn  their  heads  and  look  for  a  familiar  face.  He 
was  the  only  remaining  member  of  an  old,  wealthy  fam- 
ily, one  of  the  first  settlers.  He  had  received,  by  in- 
heritance from  his  father,  Judge  Stedman,  a  large  fortune, 
but  had  wasted  it  on  fast  horses  and  wines ;  but,  not- 
withstanding his  bad  habits,  had  continued  to  enjoy  a 
certain  consideratkm,  which  such  an  inheritance  always 
commands. 

The  audience  called  loudly  for  Stedman,  and  when  at 
length  they  caught  sight  of  him,  they  all  turned  their 
eyes  in  that  direction,  and  shouted.  Few  men  can  resist 
such  an  appeal,  and  Jack  was  certainly  not  one  of  them. 
He  rose  in  a  back  corner,  and  began ;  but  the  crowd 
cried,  "  Platform  !  platform  !  platform  !  "  until  Stedman 
went  forward.  When  he  walked  up  on  the  platform,  and 
stood  near  the  desk,  his  handsome  face  all  aglow,  the 
crowd  sprang  to  their  feet,  swung  hats  and  handker- 
chiefs, and  shouted  themselves  hoarse. 

But  I  have  not  space  to  go  through  with  the  three 
weeks'  struggle  in  D.  I  must  simply  say  that,  at  the 
end  of  that  time,  there  was  but  one  drinking  place  in  D., 
and  that  was  the  den  of  a  bad  Irishman,  known  as  Mack. 
It  was  located  in  a  back,  narrow,  dirty  lane,  called  Broad- 
way. Mack  was  very  popular  with  a  certain  class  of 
low  fellows,  who  were  always  ready  to  laugh  at  his  vul- 
gar stories,  and  to  back  him  up  in  his  defiance  of  de- 
cency. 

Mack  refused  to  admit  the  women  to  his  place,  and  so 
the  five  committees  went  each  in  turn  two  or  three  times 
a  day  to  Mack's  den,  and,  knocking  at  his  door  and  find- 


GLORIOUS  SUCCESS.  185 

ing  themselves  refused,  sang  a  verse,  made  a  prayer, 
and  gave  way  to  the  next  committee. 

One  morning,  when  Mrs.  Hart,  with  her  party,  paid 
the  first  visit,  the  ladies  were  greatly  surprised  to  find 
when  they  knocked,  the  door  was  quickly  opened,  and 
they  were  invited  in.  They  asked  permission  to  pray, 
which  Mack  acceded  to  with  great  apparent  heartiness. 
The  ladies  sang  a  verse,  and  then  knelt  on  the  floor  and 
engaged  in  prayer.  While  thus  occupied,  with  their 
eyes  closed,  Mack  threw  a  quantity  of  red  pepper  on  the 
stove.  The  sneezing  was  instant  and  prodigious.  There 
was  nothing  for  it  but  to  retreat. 


186          A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO   CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
WONDERFUL  YOUNG  LAWYER. 

C\  EORGE  WASHINGTON  HOWARD,  a  low,  drunken 
U  young  lawyer  in  town,  offered  to  help  Mack  out  of 
the  dilemma  by  getting  an  injunction  against  the  women. 
He  obtained  such  a  document  from  a  drunken  judge 
against  ninety-seven  ladies  who  were  known  to  be  en- 
gaged in  the  crusade,  and  had  the  paper  served  on  them 
all,  forbidding  them  under  heavy  penalties  from  disturb- 
ing in  any  way  the  lawful  business  of  the  aforesaid  Rob- 
ert Emmet  McEttrick.  In  these  documents,  and  upon 
large  posters,  on  which  the  awful  prohibition,  and  the 
names  of  the  trespassers  upon  the  rights  and  dignity, 
&c.j  <fcc.,  of  the  aforesaid  Robert  Emmet  McEttrick, 
were  published,  George  Washington  Howard  was  careful 
to  have  his  name  printed  in  large  letters,  as  counsel  for 
the  plaintiff. 

This  dreadful  paper  frightened  the  women,  and  their 
husbands  were  afraid  it  might  cost  them  money;  and 
thus  came  about  the  first  pause  in  the  crusade  at  D. 

I  have  said  that  Broadway  was  a  very  narrow  lane. 
It  happened  that  the  land  on  the  opposite  side  belonged 
to  Judge  McGraw,  one  of  the  eminent  men  of  the  state. 
He  had  read  the  newspaper  account  of  the  proceedings 
at  D.,  and  went  over  to  see  what  it  really  was.  Learn- 
ing the  situation,  he  said  to  the  ladies,  "  If  you  wish  to 


WONDEREUL    YOUNG  LAWYER.  187 

use  my  land  opposite  that  fellow's  den,  you  can  do  so, 
and  you  may  pray  and  sing  as  long  as  you  please.  Things 
have  come  to  a  pretty  pass  among  us,  if  women,  over- 
whelmed with  the  sorrows  of  intemperance,  are  not  at 
liberty  to  go  to  the*  places  from  which  all  their  troubles 
spring,  and  simply  cry,  — 

"'  Spare  us !     0,  spare  us  ! ' 

"  I  rather  think  we  haven't  got  along  quite  so  far  to- 
ward the  absolute  despotism  of  rum,  that  we  shall  stand 
by  and  see  our  mothers  and  wives,  sisters  and  daughters 
kicked  out  when  they  go  to  plead  for  mercy.  Yes,  la- 
dies you  may  use  my  land  as  long  as  you  please,  and 
no  one  shall  disturb  you." 

The  young  men  of  the  place  built  a  shanty  for  the 
ladies  on  the  Judge's  land,  immediately  opposite  Mack's 
saloon.  In  one  day  it  was  completed  ;  a  big  stove  was 
put  in,  and  the  women  were  there  singing  and  praying. 
A  large  window  opened  toward  Mack's  den,  and  the 
women  had  a  clear  view  of  all  who  went  into  his  place, 
and  of  all  the  goings  on. 

Of  course  we  know  now  that  this  was  not  the  best  way 
to  conduct  the  Woman's  Crusade,  but  they  did  not  know 
it  then. 


188  A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO   CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
DEAR  LITTLE  MARY  HART. 

AFTER  three  clays'  prayer  and  singing  in  their  "  Tab- 
ernacle," as  the  young  men  had  named  it,  Alary 
Hart,  who  had  been  very  quiet  but  earnest  in  her 
mother's  committee,  proposed  to  go  over  alone  to  Mack's 
den.  He  had  imported  from  a  neighboring  town  a  band 
of  music,  —  not  a  good  one,  indeed,  but  very  noisy, — 
and  they  had  been  playing  all  the  morning,  as  loud  as 
possible,  to  drown  the  praying  and  singing  in  the  Taber- 
nacle, which  was  scarcely  more  than  twenty  feet  from 
the  den. 

The  women  in  the  Tabernacle  were  quite  divided 
about  the  wisdom  of  Mary's  going  over  to  the  den. 
Several  of  them  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  thirty  or 
forty  great,  coarse,  drunken  men  over  there  would  just 
swallow  the  poor  child  —  would  eat  her  up.  Mary  told 
the  ladies,  if  they  would  excuse  her  a  few  moments,  she 
would  return  and  tell  them  whether  she  would  go.  Every- 
body knew,  or  thought  she  knew,  where  the  girl  had 
gone.  When  one  of  them  wondered,  or  pretended  to 
wonder,  where  she  had  gone,  the  rest  of  them  in  chorus 
said,  "  Of  course  she  has  gone  to  consult  John," 

They  were  right.  She  went  to  ask  John  if  he  had  any 
objection  to  her  going  over  alone  to  the  den,  where  there 
were  thirty  or  forty  rough,  wild,  drunken  men  singing, 


DEAR  LITTLE  MARY  HART.  189 

hooting,  and  swearing,  all  mixed  up  with  the  most  horrid 
music  by  a  brass  band  of  drunken  Germans. 

If  I  were  to  write  a  volume  about  John  Lane  and 
Mary  Hart,  I  could  not  give  you  a  clearer  conception 
of  them  than  by  repeating  this  conversation. 

•'  Yes,  my  darling ;  I  am  perfectly  willing  you  should 
go.  I  think  you  are  right  when  you  say  that  they  may 
receive  o/?e,  while  they  would  not  receive  a  number. 
And  then,  Mary,  when  they  see  your  beautiful,  sweet 
face,  they  will  be  disarmed.  My  dear,  do  you  wish  me 
to  go  to  the  Tabernacle  and  watch,  while  you  visit  the 
den?'7 

"  No,  John  ;  I  think  it  will  be  better  that  they  should 
think  there  are  none  but  women  there.  If  they  know 
there  is  a  strong  man  standing  behind  me,  they  may 
think  there  is  a  chance  for  a  fight." 

So  little  Mary  went  back  to  the  Tabernacle,  and  told 
the  ladies,  in  her  quiet  way,  that  she  would  go,  and  that 
she  should  plead  with  them  to  break  up  their  dreadful 
business,  and  should  pray  for  them,  perhaps  kneeling  in 
their  midst.  Before  she  left,  they  prayed  that  God 
"  would  go  with  thy  maid-servant,  and  put  thy  loving 
arms  round  about  her,  and  sustain  her,  and  defend  her 
in  the  presence  of  her  enemies ;  that  Thou  wilt  shut  the 
mouths  of  the  lions,  and  that  she  may  pass  through  the 
fiery  furnace  without  so  much  as  the  smell  of  fire  upon 
her  garments,"  &c.  Then  they  all  kissed  her,  and  shook 
hands  with  her,  and  blessed  her.  When  she  was  about 
to  step  out  of  the  Tabernacle,  she  pressed  her  mother's 
hand,  and  whispered,  — 

"  Don't  be  afraid,  mother.  When  God  has  given  us 
back  our  precious  John,  you  needn't  be  afraid  that  poor, 
little,  good-for-nothing  me  will  be  lost." 


190          A   STORY  OF  THE  OHIO  CRUSADE. 

Mary  said,  as  she  started,  — 

"  Please,  ladies,  don't  let  them  see  you  watching  at  the 
window." 

So,  that  their  faces  might  not  be  seen  from  the  Den, 
they  drew  back  into  the  very  rear  part  of  the  Tabernacle ; 
but  every  eye  was  fixed  upon  the  saloon.  When  Mary 
started  to  cross  the  street,  the  drunken  horns  were  play- 
ing a  staggering,  noisy  tune ;  but,  as  the  sweet,  girlish 
face  approached  the  den,  the  music  and  the  noise  of  the 
drunken  crowd  suddenly  stopped.  Mary  walked  slowly 
and  timidly  up  to  the  door,  and  knocked.  Mack  himself 
opened  it,  and  a  conversation  ensued  between  him  and 
the  young  girl,  which  the  occupants  of  the  Tabernacle 
could  not  hear ;  but  it  ended  by  Mack's  saying,  in  a  loud 
voice,  — 

"  Of  course  you  can  come  in,  if  you  want  to." 

Mary  passed  in,  and  the  door  was  shut.  The  women 
listened  with  all  their  ears ;  but,  although  some  of  them 
thought  they  heard  Mary's  voice  in  prayer,  they  proba- 
bly did  not  hear  a  sound  from  the  den.  Indeed,  it 
seemed  to  be  as  silent  as  the  grave.  When  it  was 
thought  that  Mary's  voice  was  heard  praying,  Mrs.  Ster- 
ling, an  awfully  devout  woman,  whispered  to  a  lady 
standing  near  her,  — 

"  It  does  seem  dreadful  that  she  should  pray,  when  she 
has  never  experienced  religion,  nor  joined  a  church." 

Mrs.  Dame,  a  genuine  Christian,  exclaimed,  — 

"  0,  don't,  Mrs.  Sterling !  This  is  no  time  for  such 
nonsense  as  that.  Such  talk  is  all  well  enough  when  we 
have  nothing  on  hand.  Do  you  suppose,  if  the  house  is 
on  fire,  that  you  need  belong  to  a  church  to  pray  for 
help  to  get  out?  Those  nice  distinctions  are  all  well 
enough  for  fair  weather;  but,  when  a  storm  comes  on, 


DEAR  LITTLE  MARY  &ART.  191 

then  let  everybody  who  has  a  heart  call  upon  the  Lord.  I 
reckon  he  lets  all  His  children  call  upon  Him  when  they 
want  to." 

It  was  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  Mary 
left  the  Tabernacle  of  the  Lord  to  cross  over  to  the  Abode 
of  Satan  ;  and,  although  it  was  not  definitely  agreed  be- 
tween Mary  and  the  friends  she  left  behind  her,  that  she 
should  return  in  any  definite  time,  there  seemed  to 
be  a  general  expectation  that  she  would  be  back  in  a 
very  few  moments.  At  half  past  three  they  began  to 
wonder,  and  to  be  a  little  frightened.  By  four  there  was 
great  anxiety  in  the  Tabernacle,  and  Mrs.  Sterling  pro- 
posed that  they  should  all  go  over  in  a  body ;  she  was 
sure  they  would  not  kill  them  all,  that  some  one  would 
be  left  to  tell  the  tale  ;  and  then  she  told  how,  when  she 
was  a  girl,  there  was  not  a  boy  in  the  town  that  could 
catch  her. 

Pale  little  Mrs.  Hart,  with  a  strange  smile,  said, — 

"  I  know  Mary,  and  I  think  I  know  a  little  something 
of  human  nature  ;  and  I  tell  you,  ladies,  my  daughter 
could  not  be  safer  if  she  were  right  here  in  my  arms." 

"  How  can  you  say  so  ? "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Sterling ; 
"  why,  those  men  are  just  wild  beasts,  and  they  are  all 
crazy  with  drink.  I  would  not  trust  a  daughter  of  mine 
there  any  quicker  than  I  would  trust  her  in  a  den  of 
tigers.  0,  Mrs.  Hart,  it  is  dreadful!  When  I  think 
what  might  happen,  I  declare  it  seems  like  flying  right 
in  the  face  of  Providence,  like  fairly  courting  death.  I 
tell  you,  Mrs.  Hart,  those  creatures  are  totally  depraved. 
Don't  you  believe  in  tqjal  depravity,  Mrs.  Hart  ?  " 

"  I  do  not,  Mrs.  Sterling  ;  and  you  do  not ;  and  there 
never,  was  a  sane  m.an_or  woman  .an,  this  world  .who 
did  1 " 


192  A   STORY  OF  THE  Off/0   CRUSADE. 

"  But,  Mrs.  Hart,  I  reckon  I  know  what  I  believe,  and 
I  tell  you  I  do  believe  in  absolute,  total,  moral  depravity." 

"  Then,  Mrs.  Sterling,  why  do  not  these  men  over 
there  kill  Mary?  If  they  are  totally  depraved,  they 
would  stop  at  nothing." 

"  How  do  you  know  but  that  they  have  ?  For  my 
part,  I  am  afraid  they  have  eaten  her  alive.  I  don't 
believe  you  will  ever  see  a  thread  of  her  again,  as  long 
as  you  live."- 

With  the  same  curious  smile  Mrs.  Hart  said  in  her 
low,  sweet  voice,  — 

"  We  will  see." 

And  now  it  is  half  past  four ;  and  now  it  is  five  ;  but  not 
a  word  has  come  from  the  den.  They  could  see  great 
coarse  men  leaning  against  the  windows,  but  not  a  sound 
came  across  to  them. 

Just  then  the  kerosene  was  lighted  in  the  den,  and 
immediately  afterward  the  women  saw  a  big,  coarse 
fellow,  whose  immense  shoulders  had  been  resting 
against  the  window-frame,  suddenly  turn  round  Aand 
kneel  down,  with  his  face  against  the  window,  and  close 
his  eyes. 

Little  .pale  Mrs.  Hart,  with  quivering  lips  and  tears  in 
her  eyes,  dared  not  trust  her  voice,  but  touching  Mrs. 
Sterling's  arm,  she  pointed  toward  the  big  fellow  in  the 
window,  and  they  all  instinctively  knelt  and  remained  in 
silence  for  some  moments,  when  dear  little  Mrs.  Hart 
broke  out  into  such  a  prayer  as  her  companions  never 
heard  before.  One  of  the  ladies  said  afterward  that  it 
would  have  melted  a  heart  of  stone  ;  that  they  all  wept 
and  sobbed,  so  that  it  was  almost  impossible  at  one  time 
to  hear  Mrs.  Hart's  words. 

While  they  were  still  on  their  knees,  they  were  star- 


DEAR  LITTLE  MARY  HART.  193 

tied  by  the  band,  and  loud  singing  over  the  way.     It 
was, — 

*'  Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  floir." 

And  then  the  big,  coarse,  red-faced  fellow  knelt  at  the 
window  again,  and  all  was  still  for  a  few  moments.  Then 
burst  out,  — 

"  All  hail  the  po-wer  of  Jesus'  name," 

from  the  den. 

The  women  collected  about  dear,  pale,  little  Mrs. 
Hart,  and  caught  at  her  arms,  and  cried  and  sobbed  out, 
"  God  bless  you,  dear  sister,"  as  if  she  somehow  were 
managing  things  over  the  way. 

Mrs.  Hart  suddenly  turned  toward  Mrs.  Sterling,  with 
the  exclamation,  — 

"  It  is  a  falsehood,  it  is  blasphemy,  it  is  a  horrible 
insult  to  God,  to  say  that  man  is  totally  depraved." 

Mrs.  Sterling  bowed  her  head,  and  was  silent.  The 
ladies  said  they  never  knew  her  to  be  silent  before. 

Pretty  soon  the  big  fellow  at  the  window  went  down 
on  his  knees  again,  and  this  time  the  women  did  not 
kneel,  but  kept  their  eyes  fixed  on  the  den.  Soon  they 
saw  big  tears  roll  down  the  big  fellow's  cheeks,  and  then 
they  heard  masculine  groans  and  amens,  which  grew 
louder  and  louder.  The  women  were  greatly  excited, 
and  Mrs.  Sterling  cried  out,  "  Let  us  go  over  at  once," 
and  started  toward  the  door. 

"  But,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Dame,  "  what  does  Sister  Hart 
say?" 

She  was  not  in  the  group  which  had  been  gazing  at 

the  den,  and  they  turned  and  saw  her  standing  in  a  back 

corner,  glorified.     Of  course  she  ought  to   have   been 

prostrate  on  the  ground,  crying,  "  Unclean,  unclean,  uu- 

13 


194         A   STORY  OF  THE  OHIO  CRUSADE. 

clean  !  "  but  there  she  stood  with  her  eyes  turned  up- 
ward, and  her  face  all  aglow  with  triumphant  joy.  Dear 
little  Mrs.  Hart  had  had  a  hard  life,  and  she  had  almost 
never  known  even  moments  of  triumph.  The  women 
gazed  upon  her,  and  at  length  Mrs.  Sterling  approached 
her,  with  the  question,  — 

"  Don't  you  think  we  had  better  go  over  there,  and 
help  Mary  ?  She  must  be  nearly  dead  by  this  time." 

"  No,  dear  friends,  we  will  not  disturb  them.  God  is 
with  her.  She  needs  none  of  our  help." 

And  now  there  came  across  to  them,  — 

•«  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee,"  — 

and  this  time  without  the  band.  Then  they  heard  a 
man's  voice  in  prayer,  and  many  voices  joined  in  loud 
"  Amens,"  and  "  God  have  mercy  on  us."  This  was  fol- 
lowed by 

"Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul," 

sung  without  the  band. 

And  this  again  by  a  long  silence,  which  did  seem  as 
if  it  never  would  come  to  an  end.  Mrs.  Sterling  declared 
it  a  shame  that  they  left  that  poor  child  to  fight  out  the 
battle  alone  with  that  crowd  of  great  wicked  men,  and, 
turning  to  Mrs.  Hart,  she  said,  — 

"  I  am  astonished,  Sister  Hart,  that  you  let  that  poor, 
dear  child,  who  never  was  strong,  fight  out  this  dreadful 
battle,  all  by  herself.  I  think  we  ought  all  to  go  over  in 
a  body.  Come,  Sister  Hart,  let  us  go  at  once.  You  go 
ahead.  If  they  come  at  us,  I  am  sure  there  ain't  a  man 
among  them  that  can  catch  me  ;  I  can  run  like  a  streak. 
I  think  it  is  downright  cruel  to  let  that  poor,  dear  child 
bear  the  whole  brunt  of  it.  I  am  willing  to  bear  my 


DEAR  LITTLE  MARY  HART.  195 

part.  Come,  let  us  go  over.  I  am  dying  to  know  what 
is  going  on." 

The  door  of  the  den  now  opened,  and  Mary,  a  little 
paler  than  usual,  but  looking  just  like  her  mother,  with 
that  triumphant  joy  in  her  face,  came  quickly  across  the 
street  with  a  sheet  of  paper  in  her  hand. 

The  women  opened  the  door  of  the  Tabernacle,  and 
stood  ready  to  grab  her  when  she  entered. 

Mrs.  Hart  was  at  the  back  part  of  the  Tabernacle,  and 
as  Mary  stepped  into  the  door,  she  glanced  quickly  about 
the  room,  and  catching  sight  of  her  mother,  she  threw 
up  her  arms,  crying  out,  with  quivering  voice,  "  Mother !  " 

In  the  presence  of  such  intense  emotion  the  women 
separated,  and  let  her  pass  through.  With  a  little  cry 
of  joy  the  two  were  folded  in  each  other's  arms,  and  the 
women  all  stood  about  them  ejaculating.  But  Mary 
quickly  released  herself,  and  holding  up  her  paper, 
said,  — 

"  Mother  and  ladies,  Mr.  McEttrick  says  he  will  stop 
if  we  will  help  him  a  little.  I  will  read  you  what  he 
asks  us  to  do. 

"  '  First.    To  buy  his  stock  of  liquors  and  his  fixtures. 

"  '  Second.    To  pay  his  rent  of  seventy  dollars  now  due. 

" i  Third.  To  have  the  suit  which  has  been  begun 
against  him  for  selling  to  minors,  withdrawn.7  " 

Mrs.  Hart  said,  when  the  reading  was  finished,  — 

"Ladies,  in  order  to  consider  these  propositions,  we 
must  come  to  order.  Please  take  seats.  And  now  what 
do  you  think  of  Mr.  McEttrick's  demands  ?  " 

Mrs.  Sterling,  who  was  always  ready  to  speak  on  all 
occasions  and  on  all  subjects,  had,  in  fact,  one  of  those 
minds  which  are  set  on  a  hair  trigger,  rose  and  opened 
her  miraculously  large  mouth,  when  Mary  said,  — 

' 


196  A   STORY  OF  THE  OHIO  CRUSADE. 

"  If  Mrs.  Sterling  will  permit  me  one  moment.  You 
know,  ladies,  that  Mrs.  McEttrick  is  dying  of  consump- 
tion ;  and  Mr.  McEttrick  thinks,  on  that  account,  the 
women  ought  to  help  him." 

Mrs.  Sterling  then  said,  — 

"  It  seems  to  me,  Mrs.  Chairman  and  ladies,  that  we 
ought  to  help  Mr.  McEttrick ;  and  I  believe  that  we  la- 
dies can  go  around  this  town,,  and  collect  money  enough, 
before  noon  to-morrow,  to  make  up  ah1  he  asks." 

Mrs.  Sterling  said  a  great  deal  more,  —  she  always  did, 
—  but  I  do  not  care  to  put  it  down.  There  were  forty- 
six  ladies  present  that  evening ;  and  a  dozen  or  more 
expressed  the  opinion  that  the  saloon-keeper  ought  to  be 
helped,  and  that  they  could  easily  raise  the  money. 

Mrs.  Hart  asked  if  any  other  lady  wished  to  speak,  and 
as  no  other  lady  responded,  she  said,  — 

"  If  the  ladies  will  excuse  me  for  expressing  an  opinion, 
I  feel  it  my  duty  to  say,  that  I  think  it  would  be  a  great 
blunder  to  hire  him  to  stop.  In  the  first  place,  all  the 
others  who  have  received  nothing  would  feel  that  we 
had  been  guilty  of  partiality  ;  and  then,  I  confess,  it 
seems  to  me  wrong  to  hire  people  to  stop  doing  wrong. 
I  think,  however,  it  would  be  right  to  take  poor  Mrs. 
McEttrick  and  nurse  her,  while  her  husband  is  establish- 
ing himself  in  some  other  business.  I  should  be  perfectly 
willing  to  take  her  into  our  house,  and  keep  her  as  long 
as  she  lives ;  and  I  am  sure  you  ladies  would  help  me 
take  care  of  her." 

It  was  always  so.  When  Mrs.  Hart  made  up  her  mind, 
the  rest  of  them  were  sure,  in  the  end,  to  agree  with  her. 

"  But,"  said  Mary,  "  how  about  that  suit  which  they 
have  begun  against  him  for  selling  to  minors  ?  " 

Mrs.  Hart  replied, — 


DEAR  LITTLE  MARY  HART.  197 

"  Let  us  first  attend  to  all  the  rest  of  his  demands,  and 
then  we  will  consider  the  suit." 

"  Excuse  me,  mother/'  said  Mary ;  "  I  see  I  was  out  of 
order." 

It  was  finally  voted  that  they  should  offer  to  take  Mrs. 
McEttrick,  but  that  they  would  not  buy  the  stock  of 
liquors,  nor  the  fixtures,  nor  could  they  decide  about  the 
suit. 

Mary  was  sorry  to  go  back  to  the  saloon  with  this  re- 
port, because  the  men  had  been  very  kind  to  her ;  but 
it  was  obviously  the  right  answer ;  so  she  went  back  and 
said  to  Mr.  McEttrick,  — 

"  As  to  the  suit  against  you,  the  ladies  can't  decide  ; 
it  is  not  in  their  power.  But,  Mr.  McEttrick,  I  will  pledge 
myself  to  have  that  suit  withdrawn,  if  you  will  stop.  I 
am  perfectly  sure  I  can  induce  Mr.  Cheney  to  withdraw 
it ;  so  you  may  regard  that  as  settled.  My  mother  and 
myself  will  take  Mrs.  McEttrick  to  our  house,  and  take 
care  of  her  until  you  are  settled  in  some  other  business. 
The  ladies  will  not  buy  your  stock  of  liquors  nor  your 
fixtures.  They  have  refused  in  other  cases,  and  cannot 
be  guilty  of  partiality ;  and  they  think  it  is  your  fault, 
and  not  theirs,  that  you  have  become  involved  in  a  bad 
business." 

Upon  this  report  there  was  a  loud  and  somewhat  angry 
discussion ;  but,  after  an  hour  alternating  between  the 
loud  voices  of  men  and  periods  of  what  seemed  perfect 
silence,  but  which  were,  in  fact,  the  times  when  Mary 
was  speaking  in  her  low,  quiet,  sweet  voice,  the  dear 
girl  came  across  the  street  again,  to  ask,  if  the  terms 
given  by  the  ladies  were  accepted,  whether  her  mother 
would  take  Mrs.  McEttrick  immediately. 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  little  Mrs.  Hart. 


198          A   STORY  OF  THE  OHIO  CRUSADE. 

11  But,'7  put  in  Mrs.  Sterling,  "  suppose  they  get  her 
off  on  to  you,  and  then  they  go  right  on  with  their  dread- 
ful business.  I  wouldn't  touch  her  unless  her  husband 
will  bring  out  his  liquors  first,  and  pour  them  into  the 
street,  and  then  take  his  oath  in  the  presence  of  us  all, 
and  before  God,  that  he  will  never  sell  any  more.  I 
wish  I  could  go  over  there  a  minute,  and  look  into  their 
faces.  /  could  tell  whether  they  are  trying  to  cheat  us ; 
but  Mary  has  had  so  little  experience,  she  can't  tell  about 
these  dreadful  men." 

Mrs.  Hart  begged  Mrs.  Sterling  not  to  go ;  but  that 
earnest  female  felt  she  should  die  if  she  could  not  go 
over  there  and  see  how  things  looked,  and  hear  what 
those  horrid  men  had  to  say  for  themselves.  At  any 
rate,  Mrs.  Sterling  insisted  that  the  man  should  pour  out 
his  liquors,  and  make  a  little  speech. 

But  Mary  ran  back  to  Mr.  McEttrick's  to  report  that, 
if  he  chose,  he  might  take  his  wife  to  their  house  that 
very  night. 

It  was  accomplished  next  morning;  and,  when  the 
poor  emaciated  creature  was  placed  between  the  snowy 
sheets  in  Mrs.  Hart's  best  bed,  which  had  been  moved 
into  the  parlor,  and  her  poor,  weary  head  sank  into  the 
soft  pillow,  and  she  saw  Mrs.  Hart  and  Mary  going  si- 
lently about,  arranging  numberless  little  comforts,  she 
could  not  refrain  from  grateful  tears,  and  a  whispered 
«  Thank  God." 

Mary  had  taken  Mr.  McEttrick's  promise  that  he  would 
stop,  without  asking  him  when,  or  what  he  should  do 
with  his  liquors.  These  he  sent  back  to  Cincinnati, 
where  he  still  owed  for  them,  and  his  bar  was  closed 
from  the  hour  his  wife  was  carried  out  of  the  door. 

Not  a  place  was  now  open  for  the  sale  of  intoxicating 


DEAR  LITTLE  MARY  HART.  199 

drinks  in  D.,  though  it  was  charged  that  one  of  the  drug 
store',3  sold  liquors  for  drinking  purposes.  The  ladies 
called  upon  the  proprietor,  and  he  pledged  himself 
again  —  this  time  very  solemnly  —  that  he  would  sell  no 
more  for  use  as  a  beverage. 


200          A   STORY  OF  THE  OHIO  CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
THEY  PREPARE  TO  CLINCH  THE  NAIL. 

NOW  that  the  drinking  places  were  all  broken  up.  and 
scores  of  men  were  afloat  with  nowhere  to  spend 
their  evenings,  and  nothing  to  occupy  their  minds,  Mrs. 
Hart  began  to  say  that  we  must  have  something  to  take 
the  place  of  the  grog-shops.  A  meeting  was  called  in 
the  Methodist  church,  which  happened  to  be  the  largest 
in  town,  both  as  to  its  building,  and  the  hearts  of  its 
members,  and  the  subject  of  "  What  shall  take  the  place 
of  the  dram-shops  in  our  social  life  ?  "  was  seriously  dis- 
cussed. John  Lane  was  exceedingly  interested  in  this 
question.  The  male  committees,  which,  before  the  work 
was  accomplished,  had  grown  into  sixteen,  of  two  men 
each,  had  now  almost  every  man  in  town  on  their  pledge ; 
but  John  knew  very  well  that  unless  something  was  in- 
troduced to  take  the  place  of  the  grog-shops,  they  would 
fall  back  again.  So  he  sat  near  the  desk  ready  to  sup- 
port any  movement  which  promised  to  fill  the  aching 
void. 

It  was  observed,  with  some  surprise,  that  Mr.  Rich- 
ards, the  converted  wholesale  dealer,  was  present.  It 
was  the  first  of  the  temperance  meetings  he  had 
attended,  and  as  he  had  been  for  some  years  an  invalid, 
and  seldom  went  out  in  the  evening,  everybody  was 
astonished  to  see  him  there.  Mr.  Elaine  was  chosen 


THEY  PREPARE   TO  CLINCH   THE  NAIL.    201 

president,  and  after  the  usual  introductory  exercises, 
explained  the  object  of  the  meeting,  and  he  did  it  re- 
markably well,  considering  that  he  was  a  clergyman. 
With  common  sense  and  genial  philosophy  he  showed 
how  indispensable  it  was  to  the  success  of  the  temper- 
ance cause  that,  in  the  place  of  the  abandoned  rum- shops, 
there  should  be  organized  amusement-halls,  coffee-rooms, 
reading-rooms,  <fcc.,  &c. 

The  speeches,  for  a  wonder,  were  all  sensible,  and 
remarkably  good-natured,  the  town  critic  and  snarler 
being  providentially  absent  with  articular  rheumatism. 

Near  the  close  of  the  evening,  Mr.  Richards  rose  and 
said,  — 

"  Mr.  Chairman,  if  you  will  permit  me  to  say  a  word, 
I  would  remark  that  I  have  not  believed  much  in  this 
temperance  movement,  for  I  have  thought  that,  as  soon 
as  the  excitement  was  over,  everything  would  go  back 
to  the  old  way.  But  now  you  propose  something  which 
gives  me  confidence.  But  let  me  say,  before  I  go  on, 
that  I  have  no  doubt  if  I  speak  a  word  in  favor  of  tem- 
perance, you  will  all  think  me  a  hypocrite  ;  and  yet  it  is 
absolutely  true  that  there  has  not  been  a  day  in  ten 
years  that  I  would  not  have  given  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars, besides  losing  the  profits  of  a  large  business,  to 
have  secured  the  triumph  of  the  temperance  cause.  But 
T  knew  that  this  cursing  rum-sellers  from  the  pulpits 
would  never  do  any  good  ;  so,  as  the  business  would  go 
on,  I  could  see  no  good  reason  why  I  should  not  have 
the  profits  as  well  as  anybody.  I  have  tried  to  manage 
the  business  as  decently  as  possible.  I  have  never 
allowed  any  drinking  in  my  place,  beyond  the  tasting 
incident  to  purchases,  and  I  never  drink  myself.  1  know 
my  business  was  one  link  in  the  chain,  but  no  more 


202  A   STORY  OF  THE  OHIO   CRUSADE. 

wrong  than  the  raising  and  selling  of  grain,  with  the 
knowledge  that  a  large  part  of  it  finds  its  way  to  the  dis- 
tilleries, for  a  considerable  part  of  the  alcohol  and  liquors 
which  passed  through  my  house  found  their  way  into 
medicinal,  chemical,  and  mechanical  uses. 

"  But  what  I  wish  to  say  here  to-night  is,  that  you  will 
do  a  very  wise  thing,  if  you  push  the  enterprise  you 
now  have  in  hand ;  if  you  fill  the  void  left  by  the  dis- 
appearance of  the.  drinking  places,  you  will  gather  the 
fruits  of  your  victory,  you  will  clinch  the  nail.  And  to 
show  you  that  I  am  in  earnest,  I  offer  the  building  which 
I  occupied  so  long  in  my  business,  to  be  devoted  to  the 
important  uses  which  have  been  named.  You  may  have 
the  whole  building  five  years  for  nothing,  and  if  then 
you  wish  to  continue  the  occupancy,  we  shall  have  no 
difficulty  in  making  terms/' 

John  Lane  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  cried  out,  — 

"  Three  cheers  for  Mr.  Richards." 

They  were  given  with  a  will ;  then  three  more,  and 
three  more,  and  finally  a  tiger. 

John  Lane  then  proposed  the  appointment  of  a  busi- 
ness committee,  to  consider  the  whole  subject,  and 
report  at  a  meeting  on  the  following  evening.  It  was 
carried  with  a  shout.  John  immediately  made  another 
motion. 

"  I  move  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  our  generous  friend, 
Charles  Richards,  Esq.,  be  the  chairman  of  that  com- 
mittee." 

There  was  no  chance  to  put  the  motion,  for  every- 
body sprang  to  his  feet,  or  her  feet,  and  shouted,  "  Aye  !  " 
Mr.  Richards  objected,  but  it  was  of  no  use.  Twelve 
others  were  elected,  six  men  and  six  women.  Two  of 
the  men  were  nominated  by  John  Lane,  and  they  were 


THEY  PREPARE   TO  CLINCH  THE  NAIL.     203 

two  of  those  who  had  kept  grog-shops  in  the  place. 
Three  of  the  women  belonged  to  what  is  called  the 
working  class,  and  one  of  them  had  kept  a  saloon. 

They  could  stand  no  more  in  one  evening,  and  ad- 
journed. 

If  you  could  have  followed  Mrs.  Hart  and  Mary  home 
that  night,  you  would  have  seen  between  them  as  they 
walked  along  a  large,  strong  man.  They  were  in  very 
earnest,  passionate  conversation.  I  won't  tell  you  who 
the  man  was,  but  you  may  have  three  chances  to  guess. 
When  the  three  reached  Mrs.  Hart's,  they  found  Mrs. 
Sterling  there,  full  and  running  over.  She  began  at 
once. 

"  I  don't  believe  this  movement  will  ever  prosper.  I 
tell  you,  Sister  Hart,  God  will  never  bless  it ;  never ! 
never !  never !  He  will  never  bless  it  in  the  world  1 " 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  you,  Sister  Sterling  ?  " 

"  How  can  you  ask  me  ?  Was  there  ever  such  dese- 
cration of  the  House  of  God  ?  Nine  cheers,  and  that 
horrible  leopard  I  Was  there  ever  such  a  frightful 
noise  ?  I  felt  as  if  I  should  scream  1  And  then  to 
appoint  that  miserable  Richards  as  chairman.  They 
might  have  spared  themselves  the  trouble  of  putting  me 
on  that  committee,  for  I  shall  never  go,  nor  touch  it." 

Just  then  poor  Mrs.  McEttrick «began  to  cough  in  the 
next  room ;  and  before  she  was  quiet  again,  Mrs.  Ster- 
ling left  to  give  a  piece  of  her  mind  to  Mrs.  Dame,  her 
next  door  neighbor. 

Before  the  adjournment  of  the  meeting,  Mr.  Richards 
had  asked  the  chairman  to  request  the  committee  to 
meet  next  morning  at  nine  o'clock,  at  his  place  of  busi- 
ness. 

All  but  Mrs.  Sterling  were  present  at  the  appointed 


204  A   STORY  OF  THE  OHIO   CRUSADE. 

hour,  and  Mr.  Richards  suggested  that  before  they  be- 
gan their  discussion  they  should  look  over  the  premises. 
The  building  was  seventy  feet  long,  thirty  feet  wide, 
and  four  stories  high  above  the  basement. 

John  kept  saying  to  Mary,  by  whose  side  he  walked, 
"  Splendid  !  splendid  !  Perfect !  Complete  !  Just  the 
thing !  It  could  not  have  been  made  better,  if  it  had 
been  gotten  up  for  the  purpose." 

When  they  had  returned  to  the  office,  Mr.  Richards, 
addressing  John,  asked,  — 

"  Mr.  Lane,  what  are  your  plans  ?  " 
John,  turning  his  eyes  toward  Mary,  said,  — 
"  Mr.  Chairman,  if  you  please,  I  think  we  better  ask 
the  ladies  first." 

"  Mrs.  Hart,"  said  Mr.  Richards,  "  give  us  your  ideas." 
"  I  have  had  no  experience  in  such  things,"  replied 
Mrs.  Hart ;  "  but  I  have  one  thought  which  I  should  like 
to  express.  I  am  opposed  to  making  this  institution  a 
religious  one.  To  make  it  attractive  to  all  classes,  it 
must  not  be  solemn  and  prayerful,  but  jolly,  and  free  and 
easy.  Praying  people  must  do  their  praying  in  church 
and  at  home.  I  take  the  liberty  to  say  this,  because  I 
believe  it  indispensable  to  the  success  of  our  work,  and 
I  thought  it  would  be  less  likely  to  give  offence  if  it 
came  from  me,  as  my  neighbors  know  that  religion  has 
been  the  great  solace  and  support  of  my  life  for  many 
years. 

"  As  to  the  various  features  or  departments  of  amuse- 
ment, P  have  no  particular  suggestions  to  offer.  I  will, 
however,  remark,  that  I  suppose  dancing  will  be  promi- 
nent. I  never  danced  in  my  life,  and  I  believe  my 
daughter  never  has ;  but  I  have  always  observed  that 
dancing  has  great  attractions  for  young  people,  partly, 


THEY  PREPARE   TO  CLINCH  THE  NAIL.    205 

I  suppose,  because  solemn  people  denounce  it;  but  then, 
I  presume,  it  really  has,  of  itself,  great  attractions." 

The  discussion  lasted  for  several  hours  ;  but  when  the 
people  assembled  in  the  evening  to  hear  from  the  com- 
mittee, dear  little  Mrs.  Hart,  who  had  been  selected  to 
read  their  report,  could  only  announce  that  they  had  de- 
cided to  devote  the  basement,  which  was  very  high  and 
well  ventilated,  to  dancing.  There  the  dancers  would 
not  disturb  others  by  shaking  the  floor.  They  had  taken 
into  their  counsels  a  number  of  the  most  devoted  of  the 
dancing  young  people  of  the  town,  and  they  all  agreed 
that  the  basement  would  make  a  perfect  ball-room. 

Mrs.  Hart  had  also  to  report  that  they  had  determined 
to  devote  the  first  story  to  a  coffee  and  reading  room. 
The  other  three  stories  the  committee  reserved  for  fur- 
ther consideration.  Within  three  days  it  had  been  de- 
termined to  devote  the  second  story  to  a  library,  a  dress- 
ing room  for  ladies,  a  similar  room  for  gentlemen,  and  a 
smoking  room  (with  a  secret  resolution  on  the  part  of 
the  ladies  to  make  a  gentle  but  earnest  war  on  that  nasty 
habit).  The  third  story  was  to  be  devoted  to  chess, 
checkers,  backgammon,'  cards,  and  other  table  games. 
The  upper  story  was  given  up  to  billiards,  with  a  secret 
determination  on  the  part  of  a  number  of  young  ladies  to 
give  their  spare  time  to  that  story  until  they  could 
divide  the  honors  with  their  gentlemen  friends. 

At  the  fourth  meeting  for  considering  their  new 
scheme,  they  voted  to  call  their  institution  "  Richards 
Hall."  When  that  vote  was  unanimously  passed,  Mr. 
Richards  rose  and  made  a  hit,  a  palpable  hit.  He 
said,  — 

"Mr.  Chairman,  and  ladies  and  gentlemen:  This  build- 
ing must  be  handsomely  fitted  up,  aiid  it  will  require 


206          A   STORY  OF  THE  OHIO   CRUSADE. 

money.  This  fitting  up  should  be  paid  for  by  the  rich 
men  of  the  town,  and  then  the  contingent  expenses 
should  be  met  by  regular  dues,  which  ought  to  be  the 
same  for  everybody.  When  the  building  is  ready,  I 
shall  move  that  the  dues  be  made  three  dollars  a  year. 
Let  the  poor  working  girl  feel  that  she  pays  as  much  as 
anybody,  and  has  the  same  rights.  I  am  opposed  to 
making  it  a  charitable  institution ;  charity  demoralizes 
people. 

"  But,  first  of  all,  we  must  have  the  money  to  fit  up. 
"With  the  advice  of  the  business  committee,  I  have  pre- 
pared a  subscription  paper  for  this  purpose,  and  have 
taken  the  liberty  to  solicit  a  few  subscriptions.  Our 
friend,  Colonel  Dodge,  put  his  name  down  first ;  but  that 
was  simply  because  I  called  on  him  first.  The  colonel, 
who,  I  am  glad  to  see,  is  with  us  to-night,  put  his  name 
down  for  $1000  (applause),  and  said  he  should  save  it  in 
a  few  years  in  taxes,  if  this  thing  succeeded  as  he  be- 
lieved it  would.  Squire  Edmonds  is  down  for  $300  (ap- 
plause) ;  Daniel  Eddy,  who,  you  know,  can't  write  very 
well,  contrived  to  make  his  mark  for  $500.  (Applause.) 
Carl  Swartz  I  found  shoeing  a  horse,  and  when  I  ex- 
plained to  him,  he  put  down  the  horse's  foot,  took  an  old 
steel  pen,  and  went  to  digging  at  my  paper,  and  made  a 
large,  dirty  spot  on  it ;  but  when  I  read  l  Carl  Swartz, 
$200,'  I  forgave  him.  (Loud  and  long-continued  ap- 
plause, the  audience  rising  to  their  feet.)  He  says  he 
will  give  that,  if  necessary,  every  year,  to  save  his  boys 
from  the  grog-shops.  John  Lane  is  down  for  $250.  (Ap- 
plause.) 

"  Well,  I  haven't  been  round  much,  but  I  have  felt  the 
pulse  of  our  people  enough  to  see  that  the  money  will 
come.  We  estimate  that  the  expense  will  be  about 


THEY  PREPARE   TO  CLINCH  THE  NAIL.     207 

$4000,  besides  the  library  and  the  billiard  tables.  The 
business  committee  think  the  billiard  tables  should  be 
purchased  by  those  who  wish  to  use  them.  It  is  pretty 
clear  to  the  committee  that  the  funds  left  after  the  pay- 
ment of  the  working  expenses  should  every  year  be 
devoted  to  the  library ;  but  whether  there  should  be 
a  special  subscription  for  the  first  purchase  of  books,  we 
cannot  decide.  Some  one  has  suggested  that  perhaps,  if 
our  institution  promises  well,  the  town  library  might  be 
transferred  to  our  rooms. 

"  But,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  return  to  our  subscription  for 
fitting  up  the  rooms." 

At  this  point  Colonel  Dodge  rose  and  said,  — 

"  Mr.  Chairman  (if  the  gentleman  will  permit  me  to 
interrupt  him),  I  have  always  thought  that  Mr.  Kichards 
could  read,  but  I  now  see  that  I  was  mistaken.  That 
subscription  paper  he  has  not  read  as  I  saw  it  to-day. 
He  told  us  that  the  first  subscription  was  mine ;  but,  if 
he  will  be  kind  enough  to  use  my  glasses,  I  think  he  will 
find  that  the  first  name  is  one  '  Charles  Richards,  $1000.' " 

The  audience  here  sprang  to  their  feet,  and  John  Lane 
called  for  three  cheers  for  Charles  Richards.  When 
these  had  been  given  with  a  gusto,  and  three  more,  and 
three  more,  and  until  the  people  were  unable  to  shout 
any  longer,  a  poor  widow,  Mrs.  Burrows,  whose  husband 
and  only  son  had  fallen  victims  to  drink,  rose  and  said, 
in  a  trembling  voice,  — 

"  If  you  please,  friends,  put  my  name  down  on  that 
paper  for  one  dollar." 

The  house  was  instantly  silent,  and  then  were  heard 
sobs  on  every  hand. 

The  first  words  spoken  were  by  Mr.  Richards,  who 
said,  — 


208  A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO   CRUSADE. 

"  Mr.  Chairman,  if  there  is  no  objection,  I  shall  place 
Mrs.  Burrows's  name  first  on  our  list  of  subscribers." 

The  chairman  said,  — 

"  If  there  is  no  objection,  Mr.  Richards  will  be  author- 
ized to  place  Mrs.  Burrows's  name  first  on  the  list." 

Before  the  meeting  was  over,  the  subscriptions  for  the 
new  building  amounted  to  $4650 ;  and,  before  the  end 
of  the  first  month,  the  paper  footed  up  $6325. 

The  good  work  went  rapidly  forward.  Everybody 
offered  to  assist,  and  everybody  was  welcomed.  Scores 
of  the  young  people  were  there  every  evening,  as  busy 
as  bees.  It  was  at  first  resolved  to  have  no  carpets  and 
no  pictures  till  they  got  a  little  ahead.  But  the  second 
story,  which,  you  recollect,  was  divided  between  the 
library,  two  dressing  rooms,  and  a  smoking  room,  it 
was  determined  should  have  throughout,  all  except  the 
smoking  room,  a  handsome  velvet  carpet.  John  Lane 
and  Mary  Hart  were  appointed  a  committee  to  visit  a 
neighboring  town,  and  select  the  carpet.  But  I  can't  go 
into  details.  Nothing  else  was  talked  of  in  D.  for  several 
weeks. 

Wednesday  evening,  February  4,  was  selected  for  the 
dedication. 

Long  before  that  day  the  whole  story  about  John  Lane 
had  come  out,  and,  of  course,  it  was  understood  that  the 
glorious  temperance  movement  and  Richards  Hall  really 
took  their  rise  with  him. 

Now  I  must  go  back  a  little.  You  remember  I  told 
you  that  John  and  Mary  were  to  be  married  on  the  first 
day  of  January,  1874.  Well,  it  so  happened  that  on  that 
day  John  was  up  in  his  bedroom,  in  his  mother's  house, 
passing  through  that  fearful  struggle  which  I  have  de- 
scribed to  you.  When  John  got  out,  and  felt  himself  able 


THEY  PREPARE   TO   CLINCH   THE  NAIL.     209 

to  converse  with  Mary,  he  said  to  her,  what  was  very 
natural  for  an  honorable  man  to  say,  — 

"  I  can't  ask  you  to  become  my  wife,  and  I  never  will 
ask  you,  until  you  are  perfectly  satisfied  that  I  am  safe. 
I  should  not  be  willing  to  become  your  husband  until  at 
least  six  months  have  passed  away,  so  that  I  may  be 
able  to  know  that  my  demon  would  not  return  ;  that  I  am 
safe.  So  we  will  let  the  period  of  our  marriage  remain 
undecided,  until  you  are  satisfied  that  in  marrying  me 
you  would  not  tie  yourself  to  a  madman." 

Mary  wept,  and  protested,  but  she  had  had  long  con- 
versations with  her  prudent  mother,  who  had  prepared 
her  daughter's  mind  for  the  postponement,  which  she 
was  sure  John  would  propose. 

During  one  of  the  last  days  of  January,  Jane  Dodge, 
daughter  of  Colonel  Dodge,  and  the  most  beautiful  and 
aristocratic  young  lady  in  town,  got  to  thinking,  one 
morning,  before  she  rose.  The  outcome  of  that  thinking 
you  shall  hear. 

After  breakfast  she  went  over  to  Mrs.  Hart's  to  com- 
municate her  bright  thought  to  Mary,  and  she  did  it  about 
in  this  way  :  — 

"  This  morning  the  happiest  idea  came  to  me,  that 
ever  entered  my  head.  And  what  do  you  think  it  is  ? 
It  is  just  this  :  that  on  the  night  of  our  great  inaugura- 
tion, you  and  John  are  married.  Wouldn't  it  be  splen- 
did ?  I  could  hardly  wait  to  get  my  breakfast,  before  I 
came  over  to  tell  you  about  it.  Why,  Mary,  what  a 
thrilling  interest  it  would  give  to  the  occasion ;  for  you 
know  this  whole  movement  started  with  John ;  and  now, 
after  we  have  all  learned  about  his  history,  and  see,  as 
we  all  do,  that  this  temperance  movement,  and  this  new 
scheme  of  ours,  will  not  only  save  all  our  young  people, 
14 


210  A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO   CRUSADE. 

but  lift  John  Lane  to  the  highest  place  among  us,  what 
a  capital  idea  it  would  be  !  What  a  glorious  plan,  that 
you  and  he  should  be  married  on  the  night  of  the  open- 
ing !  Why,  Mary,  I  will  help  you  every  way,  and  if  you 
will  let  me,  I  will  be  one  of  your  bridesmaids.  I  am  sure 
my  Charley  would  like  nothing  better  than  to  appear  as 
groomsman  on  that  occasion." 

To  Jane's  astonishment,  Mary  sat  silent.  Her  eyes 
filled  with  tears,  but  she  said  not  a  word.  When  Jane 
urged  her,  and  urged  and  urged,  Mary  said,  — 

"  I  must  not  tell  you  about  it,  but  it  cannot  be." 


THEY  CLINCH  THE  NAIL.  211 


CHAPTER  X. 
THEY  CLINCH  THE  NAIL. 

fTlHE  memorable  Wednesday  night  arrives.  Every- 
JL  body  in  town,  young  and  old,  has  been  waiting  for  it 
most  impatiently.  It  did  seem,  at  one  time,  that  it  would 
not  come  at  all ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  has,  and  the 
people  of  D.,  young  and  old,  men,  women,  and  children, 
are  all  on  tiptoe.  Of  course,  everybody  knew  that  all 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  could  not  get  into  those 
rooms,  but  it  was  hoped  that  somehow  Providence  would 
manage  it.  The  basement  had  been  beautifully  deco- 
rated, and  a  capital  band  of  music,  of  ten  pieces,  is  seated 
in  the  little  gallery  of  the  dancing-hall,  ready  to  begin. 
Very  soon  after  dark  the  music  and  the  happy  feet  are 
busy.  A  great  many  of  the  old  men  and  women  visit 
that  room,  more  or  less,  during  the  evening,  just  to  see 
what  idiots  young  people  can  make  of  themselves ;  and 
the  old  folks  laugh  and  rub  their  hands,  nudge  each 
other,  and  really  do  not  seem  to  suffer  very  much  by 
witnessing  this  scene  of  foolishness. 

The  next  story  above  is  as  busy  as  thirty  of  the  best 
young  ladies  in  town,  who  have  volunteered  to  serve  as 
waiters,  can  make  it,  carrying  refreshments  hither  and 
thither,  occasionally  letting  fall  a  tray  of  dishes,  which 
only  adds  to  the  general  happiness. 

If  you  go  up  a  story  higher,  and  choose  to  step  into 


212         A   STORY  OF  THE  OHIO  CRUSADE. 

the  smoking-room,  you  will  find  Colonel  Dodge,  Squire 
Edmonds,  old  Steve  Delemater,  and  Captain  Calver, 
trying  a  new  brand  that  has  been  ordered  for  that  par- 
ticular room.  Of  course,  the  ladies'  dressing-room  is  not 
to  be  visited,  and  I  can't  describe  its  wonders  :  but  you 
will  see  many  persons  gathered  about  the  library  cases, 
examining  the  few  hundred  books  that  have  already 
found  their  way  there  ;  and  on  the  walls,  pictures,  and 
other  works  of  art,  which  have  either  been  given  or 
loaned  by  the  well-to-do  citizens,  or  which  have  been 
purchased  by  the  Art  Committee. 

If  you  go  up  to  the  next  story,  you  will  see  every 
table  occupied  with  chess,  or  checkers,  or  backgammon, 
or  cards,  and  you  will  hear  an  amount  of  jabber  and 
boisterous  mirth  which  will  make  it  almost  impossible  to 
hear  yourself  think. 

And  then,  if  you  go  to  the  upper  story,  you  will  find 
some  of  the  nobby  young  men  of  D.,  who  have  never  had 
a  chance  before  to  show  off  to  their  lady  friends,  busy 
in  what  has  been  called  the  Gentleman's  Game.  The 
people  are  as  full  as  they  can  hold.  The  converted 
saloonatics  and  their  wives  and  daughters  are  present, 
as  good  as  anybody.  They  are  greeted  and  welcomed 
as  heartily  as  our  best  citizens. 

At  ten  o'clock,  loud  singing  is  heard  from  the  first 
story,  and  everybody  that  can,  crowds  in.  But  what  is 
that  excitement  at  the  door  ?  The  crowd  separates,  and 
two  figures  make  their  way  to  the  platform.  Before 
anybody  seems  to  know  what  it  means,  the  two  turn 
their  faces  so  that  we  know  them.  It  is  John  Lane  and 
Mary  Hart,  and  she  has  on  a  white  dress,  and  orange 
blossoms  in  her  hair.  Before  the  burst  of  feeling  is 
fairly  developed,  Mr.  Blaine  rises,  and  lifting  his  hands, 


THEY  CLINCH  THE  NAIL.  213 

says,  "  Let  us  pray."  When  the  prayer  is  finished,  he 
proceeds  at  once  to  perform  the  ceremony.  When  that 
is  ended,  and  the  concluding  prayer  is  said,  then  begins 
the  hand-clapping,  and  wonder  and  laughter.  Within 
two  hours  the  happy  couple  pass  through  every  room  of 
the  building,  receiving  the  congratulations  of  everybody, 
and  —  But  how  can  I  describe  such  a  scene  ?  Dear 
reader,  if  you  could  have  been  there,  if  you  could  have 
known  all  the  circumstances,  and  have  loved  Mary  Hart 
as  they  all  did,  and  admired  John  Lane  as  they  all  did, — 
if  you  could  have  been  in  the  midst  of  the  great  revival, 
and  felt  its  heart-throbs  as  they  did,  —  you  would  not 
have  slept  a  minute  that  night,  nor  much  the  next. 

As  we  all  learned  subsequently,  Mary,  after  long  con- 
sultations with  her  mother,  told  John,  a  few  days  before 
the  dedication,  that  she  would  take  the  entire  responsi- 
bility ;  he  need  not  wait.  He  took  her  in  his  arms,  and 
sobbed  out,  — 

"  My  darling,  you  shall  never  be  sorry.  God  helping 
me,  your  eyes  shall  never  be  filled  with  tears  on  my 
account,  unless  they  be  tears  of  joy."  But  I  must  not  tell 
you  about  this  part,  for  really  it  is  all  a  great  secret. 

Two  months  after  the  consecration  of  Richards  Hall, 
and  when  there  were  nearly  twelve  hundred  members, 
composed  of  all  classes,  and  calling"  into  play  every  kind 
of  knack,  and  tact,  and  talent,  including  a  really  fine  dra- 
matic club,  and  everything  was  working  well,  John  and 
Mary  concluded  to  make  their  wedding  tour, -and  the 
whole  town  went  to  the  depot  to  see  them  off.  It  was 
very  strange,  for  if  they  had  been  married  six  months 
before,  only  a  few  relatives  and  friends  would  have  fol- 
lowed them  to  the  station ;  but  you  see  Richards  Hall 
had  made  the  town  all  one  family. 


214          A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO   CRUSADE. 

The  crowd  and  the  flowers,  and  the  cheers  and  tears, 
the  hand-shaking  and  kissing,  made  the  conductor  and 
passengers  stare.  The  conductor  cursed  his  luck,  be- 
cause he  had  not  ten  empty  cars  to  accommodate  the 
crowd.  But  when  all  this  fuss  gave  him  only  one  stal- 
wart young  man  and  one  timid  little  girl,  he  wondered 
and  wondered  who  they  could  be.  Some  one  on  the 
train  started  the  story  that  it  was  the  Prince  of  Wales. 
It  was  agreed  all  round  that  it  must  be  some  particularly 
big  bug. 

John  and  Mary  made  the  tour  of  the  eastern  cities, 
and  while  in  one  of  them,  spent  two  days  with  Dr.  Siwel 
Oid.  From  him  I  learned  the  story  which  I  am  writing 
with  great  pleasure  to  myself,  and,  I  trust,  dear  reader, 
not  without  some  interest  to  you. 


GOOD!  GOOD'    CAPITAL  JOKE!  215 


CHAPTER  XL 
GOOD!    GOOD!    CAPITAL  JOKE. 

A  DOZEN  of  the  bright  young  people  were  at  work  in 
Richards  Hall,  putting  some  ornaments  on  the  win- 
dows and  walls,  a  few  nights  after  John  and  Mary  had 
left,  and  all  at  once  Charley  Beck,  Jane  Dodge's  lover, 
cried  out, — 

"  Stop,  every  one  of  you,  and  listen  to  me.  I  have  got 
the  brightest  plan  you  ever  heard  of:  and  now,  girls,  I 
want  you  to  remember  that  this  is  my  plan.  It  is  this. 
When  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Lane,  Esq.,  return  from  the  east,  I 
propose  we  give  them  a  surprise.  The  fact  is,  those  two 
young  people  have  really  done  more  for  the  town,  in 
pushing  this  temperance  movement  and  Richards  Hall, 
than  everybody  else  in  it.  Why,  if  we  could  cipher  it  up, 
we  should  find,  I  do  believe,  that  the  good  they  have 
done,  in  a  money  point  of  view,  would  amount  to  more 
than  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Now,  you  know  John  hasn't 
much  money.  I  propose  we  give  him  a  boost ;  and  I  will 
tell  you  what  my  plan  is.  Bob  Clark  has  to  give  up  his 
new  house,  and  go  to  Philadelphia.  Now,  there  is  a 
house  that  I  should  like  to  see  John  Lane  and  his  wife 
in.  It  is  just  my  idea  of  a  cottage  in  which  love  can 
flourish.  Bob  told  me  to-day  he  would  sell  the  whole 
concern,  furnished  (and  it  is  the  prettiest  furnished  house 
we  ever  had  in  this  town),  for  $3500,  and  it  never  cost 


216          A  STORY  OF  THE  OHIO  CRUSADE. 

less  than  $6000  ;  but,  as  long  as  he  is  able,  I  don't  care. 
Now,  what  do  you  say  ?  Remember,  now,  this  is  my 
idea." 

Jane  Dodge,  who  was  to  be  married  to  Charley  Beck 
as  soon  as  Colonel  Dodge  was  satisfied  that  this  temper- 
ance movement  had  helped  Charley  to  permanently  shift 
the  switch  in  his  social  habits,  walked  up  to  her  lover, 
and  putting  her  hands  upon  his  head,  said,  — 

"  Charley,  Charley  !  this  head  is  altogether  too  bright. 
You  must  have  a  poultice  put  on  it.  Really,  you  are 
getting  dangerous." 

But  the  notion  took  like  wildfire.  No  one  but  Mrs. 
Hart,  Mrs.  Lane,  and  Mr.  Richards  were  in  correspond- 
ence with  the  absent  ones,  and  these  were  put  under 
solemn  pledges  not  to  communicate  what  was  going  on. 

When  Mr.  Richards  was  applied  to  for  a  subscription, 
he  said,  — 

"  Well,  I  have  given  as  much  as  I  can  afford  to  for  this 
temperance  business,  but  I  will  write  my  name  once 
more;  so  here  goes  for  $500." 

Colonel  Dodge  declared  that  he  really  believed  there 
was  a  conspiracy  in  town  to  ruin  him,  to  make  a  pauper 
of  him,  to  send  him  to  the  poorhouse  ;  but  he  would  not 
be  beaten  by  Richards,  and  so  he  put  his  name  down  for 
$500. 

And  they  went  around,  and  there  really  was  but  little 
difficulty  in  raising  the  needed  funds ;  though  they  did 
finally  lack  $100,  and  could  not  see  just  where  to  make 
it  up.  Then  Mr.  Richards  declared  that,  as  he  was  about 
ruined  any  way,  he  might  as  well  die  for  an  old  sheep  as 
a  lamb ;  so  he  put  down  an  extra  hundred. 

The  money  was  collected,  paid  to  Bob  Clark,  and  a 
deed  of  the  house  and  a  bill  of  sale  of  the  furniture  were 


GOOD!    GOOD!    CAPITAL  JOKE!  217 

made  out  in  the  name  of  Mary  Lane.  Then  everybody 
was  aching  to  have  the  .wanderers  return.  News  came 
that  they  would  reach  D.  by  the  Thursday  evening 
train. 

Stepping  out  at  the  station,  John  and  Mary  were  sur- 
prised, and  really  a  good  deal  hurt,  that  no  one  was  there 
to  receive  them.  But  pretty  soon  Richards  stepped  in, 
and  greeting  them,  said,  "  This  way,"  and  took  them  to 
his  own  carriage,  the  handsomest  in  town.  John  pro- 
tested ;  and,  besides,  he  must  attend  to  the  baggage. 

Mr.  Richards  said  to  him, — 

"  Give  me  the  checks.  I'll  attend  to  your  baggage ; 
but  you  must  get  in  there,  and  go  where  you  are  driven. 
It's  all  right." 

The  carriage  was  driven  directly  past  Mrs.  Hart's, 
where  they  intended  to  stay,  and  John  opened  the  door 
and  cried  out,  — 

"  Here  I  here  !  You  are  driving  by.  We  want  to 
stop  at  Mrs.  Hart's." 

"The  driver  said, — 

"  If  you  please,  sir,  it  is  all  right.  I  have  my  instruc- 
tions." 

Soon  they  caught  sight  of  that  beautiful  little  cottage^ 
which  Mary  had  admired  a  hundred  times,  but  the  in- 
terior of  which  she  had  never  seen.  They  saw  now  that 
it  was  brilliantly  lighted.  They  were  driven  up  to  the 
door,  the  carriage  was  opened  by  Charley  Beck,  while  a 
bevy  of  girls  stood  close  behind,  and  behind  these  all  the 
bright  young  fellows  in  town  ;  and  all  were  clapping  their 
hands  and  crying,  — 

"  Welcome  1     Welcome  home  !     Welcome  home  !  " 

But  such  a  scene  is  indescribable.  Dear  little  Mary 
was  almost  carried  by  Charley  Beck  and  Jack  Stedman, 


218  A   STORY  OF  THE   OHIO   CRUSADE. 

first  into  the  little  reception-room,  then  into  the  parlor, 
and  the  folding  doors  were  opened,  and  there,  in  a  per- 
fect little  dining-room,  was  a  table  with  beautiful  china. 
Tea  was  ready.  Charley  Beck,  Jane  Dodge,  and  Jack 
Stedman  insisted  upon  serving  as  waiters.  When  all 
the  surprise,  and  the  laughing,  and  the  weeping,  and  the 
supper  were  over,  then  the  more  formal  part  of  the  pro- 
gramme was  begun. 

They  all  assembled  in  the  parlor  and  dining-room, 
leaving  a  little  space  in  the  middle,  where  stood  Mary 
and  John.  Mr.  Richards,  then  taking  out  of  his  pocket 
the  deed  of  the  estate,  and  the  receipt  for  the  furniture, 
and  handing  them  to  Mary,  spoke  his  little  speech. 

"  Dear  Mrs.  Lane  :  We,  the  citizens  of  D.,  have  pur- 
chased this  house  and  its  contents  in  }Tour  name.  They  are 
yours.  These  papers  make  them  so.  We  have  long  known 
you  and  your  mother,  and  your  noble  husband  and  his 
mother,  and  we  esteem  and  love  you  all.  We  all  know  that 
this  most  beneficent  temperance  revolution,  and  our 
amusement-rooms,  may  be  traced  to  you  and  your  husband. 
We  feel  that,  in  giving  you  this  home,  we  give  you  no 
more  than  you  deserve.  We  lose  nothing  in  the  gift ; 
every  dollar  presented  to  you  in 'the  purchase  of  this 
home  is  money  well  invested.  It  will  do  us  more  good 
in  giving  than  you  in  receiving.  May  you  and  your 
noble  husband  continue  long  in  our  midst,  and  make  this 
home  a  little  rendezvous  for  the  earnest  workers  in  every 
good  cause." 

"  What's  a  ronvue  ?  "  whispered  old  Dave  Spear. 

Long  before  Mr.  Richards's  speech  was  finished,  dear 
little  Mary  was  very  pale,  and  was  clinging  to  John's 
arm.  Some  one  said, — 

"  She  is  fainting." 


GOOD!    GOOD!    CAPITAL  JOKE!  219 

"  No,"  cried  Mary,  "  I  am  not  fainting ;  but  what  can  I 
say  ?  —  what  can  I  do  ?  —  how  can  I  bear  all  this  ?  " 

John  put  his  great,  strong  arm  around  her,  and  said, 
"  Dear,  dear  friends,  I  have  no  words  with  which  to  thank 
you.  I  can't  tell  you ;  I  wish  I  could,  but  it's  no  use. 
May  God  bless  you  !  May  God  bless  you  ! " 

Soon,  as  if  by  some  preconcerted  signal,  everybody 
vanished,  and  John  and  Mary  found  themselves  alone. 

The  next  day  there  were  two  cottages  for  rent  in  D., 
—  the  former  residences  of  the  widows  Hart  and  Lane. 


THE  WOMAN'S    CRUSADE. 


fjlHE  Woman's  Crusade  in  Ohio  astonished  the  world. 
_L  Now  the  people  wonder  that  the  women's  movement 
in  New  England  should  accomplish  so  little.  People 
have  said  to  me,  "  The  thing  don't  seem  to  work  so  well 
here." 

The  Ohio  thing  would  work  just  as  well  here  as  it  did 
in  Ohio.  The  secret  is,  that  the  New  England  thing  is 
not  at  all  like  the  Ohio  thing.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
imagine  two  things  more  widely  different.  I  have  urged 
here  and  there,  again  and  again,  in  New  England,  the 
employment  of  the  Ohio  tactics.  The  reply  has  generally 
been,  that  the  means  adapted  to  Ohio  are  not  adapted  to 
the  refined  tastes  of  New  England.  This  is  an  entire 
misapprehension  of  the  case. 

Let  me  illustrate.  I  have  recently  held  two  mass 
temperance  meetings  in  a  neighboring  city,  and  explained 
the  methods  which  were  so  triumphantly  successful  in 
the  West.  After  the  second  meeting,  in  an  interview 
with  the  President  of  the  Woman's  Prayer  League,  I 
urged  immediate  action.  Her  reply  was,  — 

"  We  are  holding  weekly  prayer  meetings,  and  praying 
God  to  close  the  dram-shops  of  this  city.  He  will  close 
them  if  He  sees  fit.". 

221 


222  THE    WOMAN'S  CRUSADE. 

I  said,  "  Suppose  to-morrow  morning  you  rise,  and, 
gathering  your  family,  you  pray,  l  Give  us  this  day  our 
daily  bread.'  Rising  from  your  knees,  you  look  at  the 
table,  and  find  that  the  bread  has  not  come. 

"  The  children  cry, '  Ma,  I  am  hungry.' 

"  You  say,  t  Let  us  pray  again,'  and  you  repeat  with 
still  greater  fervor,  <  0  Lord,  give  us  this  day  our  daily 
bread'.' 

"  Rising  from  your  knees,  you  again  examine  the  table, 
and  still  it  is  bare.  No  one  denies  that  God  could  give 
you  the  bread  if  He  chose  ;  but  you  may  go  on  praying, 
'  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,'  until  you  starve ; 
not  a  crumb  will  appear. 

"  The  women  of  Ohio  prayed  no  more  earnestly  than 
you  pray ;  but  they  worked  as  well  as  prayed,  and  that 
was  the  secret  of  their  wonderful  success.  You  pray, 
1  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,'  and  wait  for  the  bread 
to  come.  The  women  in  Ohio  uttered  the  same  prayer, 
and  then  they  went  to  work  and  made  the  bread.  That 
is  the  difference  between  the  Woman's  Temperance 
Movement  in  Ohio  and  the  Woman's  Temperance  Move- 
ment in  New  England.'* 

The  lady  asked  me  again  if  I  did  not  think  God  could 
close  up  the  dram-shops  if  He  chose. 

But,  again,  it  is  said  that  the  tactics  adapted  to  Ohio 
are  not  adapted  to  the  refined  tastes  of  New  England. 
That  the  women  of  Ohio  are  quite  as  refined  as  those  of 
New  England,  needs  no  proof  or  illustration  with  those 
who  are  familiar  with  society  in  both  sections  ;  and  to 
say  that  the  most  refined  ladies  of  that  great  and  noble 
state  —  the  wives  of  judges,  congressmen,  clergymen, 
the  wives  of  the  richest  citizens,  and  ladies  who  stand 
highest  in  society  —  were  the  leaders  in  the  Woman's 


THE   WOMAN'S  CRUSADE.  223 

Movement  in  Ohio,  is  to  repeat  what  is  already  familiar 
with  the  public. 

No ;  it  is  not  that  the  methods  employed  in  Ohio  are  not 
adapted  to  New  England ;  but  the  explanation  is  this : 
New  England  is  given  to  essays,  speeches,  the  "  evolu- 
tion of  ideas ;  "  while  the  West  combines  with  thought, 
action  !  action  !  action  ! ! 

There  is  not  a  locality  in  the  country  where  the  tactics 
employed  by  the  Ohio  women  would  fail. 

Again,  there  is  a  general  idea  in  New  England  that  the 
temperance  revolution  is  to  be  achieved  through  public 
meetings'.  The  rum- seller  and  the  drunkard  are  away 
over  there,  a  mile  off.  The  rum-seller  is  on  one  side  of 
the  bar,  the  drunkard  is  on  the  other.  The  evil  work 
goes  on.  We  long  to  put  a  stop  to  it ;  it  is  the  aim  and 
object  of  the  temperance  movement.  We  gather  in  a 
church,  sing,  pray,  and  preach  about  the  horrors  of  in- 
temperance and  the  beauties  of  temperance,  and,  when 
the  meeting  is  over,  and  we  are  walking  past  the  rum- 
shop,  we  hear  them  inside  singing,  "  We  who  drink  are 
jolly  good  fellows,"  &c. 

But  to  go  back  to  the  meeting.  The  good  man,  in  his 
prayer,  asks  God  to  bless  the  truths  which  are  spoken, 
to  send  them  home  to  the  hearts  of  every  rum-seller  in 
the  land,  <fec. 

Riding  through  Kansas  recently,  I  saw  here  and  there 
prairie  chickens  flying  in  the  distance.  .If  a  man  had 
loaded  *his  rifle,  put  the  breech  against  his  breast,  and, 
pointing  it  upward,  had  shut  his  eyes  and  pulled,  no  mat- 
ter though  he  was  starving,  his  prayers  that  God  would 
direct  the  shot  to  the  bird  would  probably  not  be  an- 
swered. If  he  would  have  his  prayer  answered,  he  must 


224  THE    WOMAN'S  CRUSADE. 

get  up  close  to  the  game,  and  take  good  aim  at  the  bird's 
heart.  And  if  at  the  temperance  meeting  the  speakers 
fire  off  their  temperance  platitudes  into  the  air,  no  mat- 
ter how  earnestly  they  may  pray  that  God  would  direct 
the  shot  so  as  to  hit  that  nun-seller  a  mile  away,  it  will 
probably  not  hit.  If  they  would  have  their  prayer  an- 
swered, they  must  get  dose  to  the  man,  and  take  aim 
straight  at  his  heart. 

Nothing  could  be  more  pitiful  than  the  present  man- 
ment  of  the  Woman's  Temperance  Movement  in  some 
parts  of  New  England.  I  have  in  mind  a  small  city 
which  has  three  hundred  and  forty  known  grog-shops. 
The  good  women  of  that  city  have  organized  a  prayer 
league,  and  about  a  dozen  of  them  meet  onee  a  week  to 
pray  God  to  close  the  dram-shops.  The  newspapers  of 
the  town  report  now  and  then  that  "  the  ladies  of  the 
Prayer  League  are  busy  and  hopefr.l."  Exactly  what 
they  are  doing  is  to  meet  once  a  week  to  pray.  They 
do  not  propose  to  do  anything  else.  When  you  urge 
them  to  move  on  the  works  of  the  enemy,  they  stop 
all  discussion  by  asking  if  you  think  God  could  not  re- 
move the  curse  if  He  chose;  if  you  think  His  arm  is 
shortened. 

I  never  argue  this,  but  always  admit  that  Gocl  could 
close  all  the  dram-shops  if  He  chose ;  though  I  did  ven- 
ture the  other  day  to  ask  one  of  these  ladies  why,  if  she 
trusted  the  closing  of  dram-shops  exclusively  to  prayer, 
she  did  not  leave  the  conversion  of  the  heathen  with  God. 
Why  send  missionaries  ?  Why  not  confine  their  efforts  to 
prayer  ?  And  I  asked  her  if  she  had  ever  heard  of  con- 
versions among  the  heathen,  except  through  missionaries 
and  other  similar  means. 


THE   WOMAN'S  CRUSADE.  225 

IMPORTANT   SUGGESTIONS. 

I  submit  the  following  suggestions  in  regard  to  the 
management  of  the  New  Temperance  Movement :  — 

We  will  consider  the  case  of  a  town  of  ten  thousand 
inhabitants,  eight  churches,  and  fifty  grog-shops.  The 
people  resolve  to  banish  rum.  A  meeting  is  called  in  the 
largest  church,  and  results  in  the  appointment  of  eight 
committees  of  ten  women  each,  and  twenty  committees 
of  two  men  each. 

The  women  committees  devote  themselves  to  rum- 
sellers,  the  men  committees  to  rum-drinkers. 

The  women  go  to  the  homes  of  rum-sellers,  and  to  their 
places  of  business.  They  talk,  plead,  and  pray.  Each 
committee  pursues  the  course  which  seems,  under  the 
circumstances  of  each  case,  lady-like  and  Christian,  and 
they  devote  about  two  hours  each  day  to  their  work. 

The  men  look  up  the  drinkers,  and  with  brotherly  love 
win  them  to  sign  the  pledge  arid  keep  it ;  and  they  de- 
vote at  least  an  hour  each  clay  to  their  work. 

Meetings  are  held  every  evening  for  prayer,  and  to 
hear  the  reports  of  the  committees. 

It  is  a  most  effective  measure  to  send  out  a  committee 
of  influential  ladies  to  induce  business  men  to  close  their 
places  of  business  for  an  hour  every  day,  that  all  may 
meet  in  the  churches  for  prayer  and  consultation.  I 
think  an  effort  to  accomplish  this  did  not  fail  anywhere 
in  Ohio,  and  it  always  proved  a  powerful  aid. 

As  soon  as  the   grog-shops  are  closed,  or  nearly  all 
closed,  the  opening  of  holly-tree  inns,  amusement  halls, 
&c.,  must  be  taken  in  hand. 
15 


A  BRIEF  HISTOEY  OF  THE  WOMAN'S 
CRUSADE. 


WHEN  a  boy  I  became  familiar  with  the  sorrows 
which  intemperance  brings  to  a  home.  I  learned 
to  hate  intoxicating  drinks.  My  observations  in  my 
own  and  other  countries,  during  nearly  half  a  century, 
have  not  abated  that  hatred.  When  the  darkness  became 
such  that  my  mother  could  not  see  her  way,  she  climbed 
into  the  attic,  and  we  young  people  could  sometimes 
hear  her  cry,  "  0  Lord,  how  long  !  how  long  ! "  When 
she  came  down,  her  face  shone  like  an  angel's.  The 
clouds  were  never  so  dense  over  our  home,  that  mothers 
visit  to  the  upper  story  did  not  part  them,  and  let  in  the 
light  of  heaven.  And  now  more  than  forty  years  after 
those  sorrowful  days,  I  believe  that  woman's  prayer,  and 
patience,  and  love,  are  more  potent  in  the  cure  of  intem- 
perance, than  all  other  agencies  combined. 

In  this  faith  I  tried,  twenty-one  years  ago,  to  organize 
what  is  now  known  as  the  "  Woman's  Crusade."  Several 
unsuccessful  attempts  were  made.  The  first  consider- 
able success  was  achieved  in  Dixon,'  Illinois.  It  was 
about  sixteen  years  ago.  Dixon  was  quite  a  city  even 
then,  and  had  thirty-nine  drinking  places.  They  were 
closed  in  one  week,  and  remained  closed  for  some  time. 
I  shall  never  forgive  myself  for  not  remaining  on  the 

227 


228      HISTORY  OF  THE    WOMAN'S  CRUSADE. 

* 

ground,  helping  to  organize  social  and  literary  clubs,  and 
amusement  halls,  and  other  substitutes  for  the  lighted, 
warmed,  social  dram-shops,  and  thus  have  fairly  inaugu- 
rated the  "  Woman's  Crusade."  But  at  that  time  I  was 
engaged  in  an  effort  to  introduce  a  new  system  of  physi- 
cal training  into  the  schools  of  the  country,  and  gave 
only  Sunday  to  the  temperance  work. 

A  few  months  later  a  Sunday  was  given  to  the  tem- 
perance cause  in  Battle  Creek,  Michigan.  There  were 
about  fifty  drinking  places,  and  the  city  had  the  rep- 
utation of  being  a  "  hard  town."  The  groggeries  were 
swept  away  like  chaff  before  the  wind ;  and  the  Rev. 
Charles  Jones,  a  highly  esteemed  clergyman^  in  charge 
of  the  Congregational  church  in  that  city,  and  now 
located  at  Saxonville,  Mass.,  thinks  that  then  and  there 
we  just  missed  the  inauguration  <pf  a  great  and  benefi- 
cent revolution.  Within  the  twenty-one  years  I  have 
made  about  twenty  attempts.  One  of  the  more  re- 
cent ones  was  in  Manchester,  N.  H.,  the  largest  city 
in  that  State.  It  was  in  the  summer  of  18G9.  In 
that  city  I  made  an  earnest  effort,  with  a  fuller  sense 
of  the  importance  of  the  work.  Some  time  was  spent 
in  preparing  for  it.  The  Hon.  Luther  Clark,  United 
States  Senator,  was  engaged  to  preside,  all  the  promi- 
nent clergymen  of  the  city  were  on  the  platform,  and 
many  other  influential  gentlemen,  with  whom  I  had 
conversed  privately,  were  present,  prepared  to  give 
their  aid  and  co-operation.  The  meeting  was  a  grand 
success.  The  next  morning,  by  invitation  of  the  mayor, 
the  committees  elected  at  the  mass  meeting  assembled 
in  the  common  council  chamber,  and  at  once  made 
preparations  to  begin  the  good  work.  I  was  called  back 
to  my  home  that  day  by  a  misfortune  in  my  private 
business  affairs,  and  was  compelled  to  remain  at  home 


HISTORY  OF  THE    WOMAN^S  CRUSADE.     229 

for  some  time.  I  will  not  say  that  my  presence  in  Man- 
chester would  have  prevented  all  mistakes,  but  certainly 
the  friends  of  the  cause  made  a  serious  one  as  soon  as  I 
had  left  them.  Instead  of  going  out  and  beginning  their 
visits  at  the  dram-shops  immediately,  they  resolved  to 
appoint  committees  to  circulate  a  petition  to  rum-sellers, 
among  all  the  women  of  the  city.  They  went  at  this 
with  great  energy,  and  within  a  week  had  the  names  of 
nearly  all  the  women  in  the  city,  and  then  they  gave 
another  week  or  ten  days  to  printing  these  in  a  pamphlet. 
It  made  quite  a  volume.  This  cost  a  good  deal  of  money ; 
but  worse  than  this,  the  enthusiasm  which  had  been 
kindled  at  the  great  meeting  died  away,  and  when  their 
volume  of  names  was  ready,  there  was  no  one  ready  to 
circulate  it,  or  only  a  few,  and  they  were  not  borne 
on  by  a  grand  passion,  as  committees  must  be  in  all  great 
moral  revolutions. 

In  the  autumn  of  1873  I  wont  to  Ohio,  to  lecture 
before  the  lyceums,  on  the  "  Higher  Education  of  Our 
Girls,"  and  having  a  spare  evening  at  Hillsboro',.1  pro- 
posed to  give  them  my  old  lecture,  "  The  Duty  of  Chris- 
tian Women  in  the  Cause  of  Temperance ??  —  a  lecture 
which  in  twenty  years  I  had  delivered  more  than  three 
hundred  times.  The  circumstances  were  not  peculiar, 
and  I  had  no  unusual  expectations.  But  before  the  lec- 
ture was  done,  it  was  evident  there  was  a  deep,  strong 
passion  pervading  the  audience,  and  when  I  asked  if 
the  women  were  inclined  to  organize  'and  attempt  the 
suppression  of  the  dram-shops,  more  than  a  hundred 
sprang  to  their  feet.  The  public  are  pretty  familiar  with 
what  followed.  I  went  the  next  day  to  Washington 
C.  H.,  one  of  the  brightest  towns  in  the  State,  and  on 
Christmas  day  organized  the  temperance  movement 
there.  Washington  C.  H.  was  a  town  of  about  three 


230      HISTORY  OF  THE    WOMAWS  CRUSADE. 

thousand  inhabitants,  and  very  drunken.  They  had  told 
me  atHillsboro',  "  If  you  wish  to  work  in  the  temperance 
cause,  go  over  to  Washington,  and  you  will  find  enough 
to  do." 

In  eight  weeks  the  following  appeared  in  that  most 
excellent  paper,  the  Cincinnati  Gazette,  and  similar 
accounts  in  all  the  leading  papers  of  the  country :  — 

" ON  THE    FIRST    BATTLE-GROUND. 

"  WASHINGTON  C.  H.,  Feb.  H. 

"  If,  some  six  months  ago,  some  one  had  stood  before 
this  community,  and  prophesied  that  yesterday  Washing- 
ton would  be  dressed  in  holiday  attire  to  celebrate  the 
victory  over  King  Alcohol,  to  rejoice  over  the  closing  up 
of  every  rum-hole  and  saloon  in  the  place,  such  a  prophet 
would  have  been  thought  a  fit  candidate  for  the  lunatic 
asylum.  Yet  hundreds  of  hearts  beat  in  deepest  grati- 
tude that,  in»the  providence  of  God,  such  grand  results 
have  been  secured. 

"  The  festivities  of  yesterday  began  with  some  general 
exercises  at  Music  Hall,  R:  A.  Robinson  presiding  over 
the  meeting. 

"  At  twelve  M.,  an  adjournment  was  made  for  dinner, 
which  had  been  most  bountifully  prepared  by  the  citi- 
zens in  their  homes,  for  invited  guests  and  visitors. 

"  At  one  o'clock  all  gathered  at  the  depot,  and  on  the 

arrival  of-  the  Columbus  train, —  was  received 

with  martial  music,  shouts  of  welcome,  and  cordial  hand, 
shaking.  The  procession  then  moved  to  Music  Hall, 
where  the  following  appropriate  address  of  welcome  was 
delivered  by  Mrs.  M.  G.  Carpenter:  — 

"  t :  In  the  name  of  the  women  of  Washing- 
ton, I  welcome  you.  Eight  weeks  ago,  when  you  first 


HISTORY  OF  THE   WOMAN'S  CRUSADE.     231 

came  among  us,  you  found  us  a  people  of  warm  hearts  — 
generous  impulses  —  fully  alive  to  the  evils  of  intemper- 
ance, and  needing  only  the  magnetism  of  a  master  mind 
to  rouse  us  to  a  determined  resistance  of  its  ravages. 

Yours  was  that  mind, .     Your  hand  pointed 

out  the  way.  You  vitalized  our  latent  activities,  and 
roused  us  all,  men  and  women  together,  and  we  have 
gone  forth  to  the  battle  side  by  side,  as  God  intended 
we  should,  ourselves  perfect  weakness,  but  God  mighty 
in  strength.  He  sent  you  here.  He  put  the  thought 
into  your  heart.  He  prepared  our  hearts  to  receive  it. 
And  now  he  has  brought  you  among  us  again  to  gladden 
you  with  the  fruition  of  hope  long  deferred  —  to  see  the 
seed  sown  years  ago  by  your  mother,  springing  up,  bud- 
ding, and  bearing  fruit. — ,  I  welcome  you  to 

the  hearts  and  homes  of  Washington.7 

" replied  substantially  as  follows  :  — 

" l  Madam  and  Friends  :  I  cannot  make  a  speech  on 
this  occasion.  I  have  always  been  on  the  frontier,  al- 
ways engaged  in  the  battle  of  reform.  And  now  to  find 
something  really  accomplished,  to  find  a  town  positively 
free  from  the  curse  of  liquor-selling,  it  really  seems  as  if 
there  is  nothing  for  me  to  do.  I  feel  as  one  without 
working  harness.  But  I  will  say  this  :  none  but  God  can 
ever  know  how  much  I  owe  to  this  town,  nor  how  fortu- 
nate it  was  for  me  and  for  many  others  that  I  came  here. 
I  will  not  say  that  this  is  the  only  community  in  which 
the  work  could  be  begun.  The  heroism  and  self-sacrifice 
displayed  in  other  places  would  make  such  a  remark 
invidious/  &c.,  &c." 

I  have  given  you  the  results  in  one  of  the  Ohio 
towns. 


THE  CURE  FOR  A  BALKY  MULE. 


ONE  day  last  spring,  while  coming  up  Fulton  Street,  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  rny  attention  was  attracted  to 
a  crowd  a  little  way  up  the  street.  Upon  .reaching  it, 
I  elbowed  my  way  through,  and  found  it  was  a  case  of 
balky  mule.  The  mules  were  very  small,  and  the  load 
of  brick  was  large,  and  in  the  steepest  part  of  the  hill 
the  rear  mule  concluded  to  retire  from  business. 

The  driver  was  a  big  brute,  and  flourished  a  savage 
black- snake  whip.  One  fellow  in  the  crowd  cried  out, 
"  Cut  him  under  the  belly." 

Another  cried,  "  Hit  his  ears.     That'll  fetch  him." 

And  still  another,  "  Build  a  fire  under  him.  There's 
some  straw  !  Build  a  fire  under  him.  That'll  fetch  him 
sure." 

The  driver  was  meantime  busy  with  his  black-snake, 
and  re-enforced  it  with  the  most  terrific  profanity.  I 
stepped  toward  him,  and  expostulated. 

"  Don't,  for  mercy's  sake,  don't !  That  won't  do  any 
good." 

"  Who  are  you  ?  You  mind  your  own  business,  and 
I'll  tend  to  my  mule ;  "  and  the  crowd  hooted,  "  Out  with 
him  !  out  with  him  !  Give  him  the  whip." 

Just  then  a  big  negro  stepped  forward,  and  said,  — 

232 


THE  CURE  FOR  A   B^LKY  MULE.  233 

"•Boss,  if  you'll  stop  lickin'  the  little  cuss,  I've  got 
some  medson  'fill  cure  'im." 

"  You  shet  up  your  black  yaup,  or  I'll  give  it  to  you," 
was  the  driver's  gentle  reply. 

With  a  broad  grin  the  negro  repeated, — • 

"  Boss,  if  you'll  stop  lickin'  Jim,  I've  got  some  medson 
'fill  cure  ?irn." 

As  the  teams  were  accumulating  above  and  below, 
and  as  the  crowd  was  rapidly  augumenting,  and  two  or 
three  policemen  were  trying  to  clear  the  street,  and  as 
the  driver  saw  that  his  tortures  did  no  good,  he  cried 
out,  — 

"  Here,  you  nigger,  what  is  your  medicine  ?  " 

"  I  want  to  talk  to  the  little  cuss.  I  want  to  whisper 
to  7im." 

With  a  nine-jointed  oath  the  driver  consigned  the 
black  man  to  the  infernal  regions ;  but  the  negro  per- 
sisted, — 

"  Look  a  heah,  boss.  I  was  born  among  the  mules,  and 
brought  up  among  the  mules,  and  I  tell  ye,  I  know  all 
about  mules." 

"  Well,  try  yer  medicine,  quick." 

The  negro  at  once  put  his  cheek  against  the  mule's 
nose,  and  began  with  his  hand  to  pat  his  neck,  rub  his 
ears,  and  repeat  in  a  low,  soft  voice,  — 

"  Poor  fellow  !  poor  fellow  !  poor  fellow  !  " 

After  a  few  moments  the  negro  said,  — 

"  Now,  boss,  if  you'll  tech  up  t'other  one,  this  one'll 
go,  I  reckon." 

The  driver  touched  the  other  mule,  which  had  been 
willing  to  go  all  the  time  ;  not  anxious,  but  rather  willing ; 
and  when  that  one  started,  and  the  negro  said  to  his  mule, 
in  a  pleasant,  coaxing  voice,  "  Come,  old  feller,  don't 


234  THE   CURE  FfR  A   BALKY  MULE. 

be  a  fooling"  off  he  went,  leaping  and  tearing  up  the  hill 
as  hard  as  he  could  go. 

I  looked  round  upon  the  crowd,  and  saw  scarcely  a 
face  that  did  not  show  disappointment.  They  evidently 
felt  that  they  had  been  cheated  out  of  a  feast.  They 
were  eager  to  have  the  poor  creature  beaten  and  tor- 
tured into  submission. 

This  is  the  spirit  in  which  drunkards  were  treated 
until  the  Washingtonian  days.  They  were  loathed  and 
kicked.  They  were  solemnly  assured  that  not  only  was 
there  no  place  on  earth  for  them,  except  the  gutter  and 
the  drunkard's  grave,  but  that  the  gates  of  heaven  were 
shut  against  them. 

A  few  drunkards  in  Baltimore,  in  their  despair,  looked 
up  to  God,  and  in  his  love  he  pitied  and  helped  them. 
He  taught  them  that  love  was  all-sufficient.  The  good 
work  began.  Brotherly  love  triumphed  everywhere. 
No  more  scowls,  no  more  curses,  for  the  drunkard ;  but 
everywhere  men  went  down  to  him  in  his  darkness  and 
sorrow,  put  the  arms  of  their  fraternal  love  about  him, 
and  led  him  up  into  the  light.  In  an  evil  hour  the  pro- 
hibitory law  came,  and  love  died  out. 

In  the  same  bitter  spirit  we  continued  to  treat  the 
rum-seller  until  last  winter,  when  the  women  of  Ohio, 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  Washingtonianism,  went  about 
pleading  and  praying  with  rum- sellers.  That  wonderful 
movement,  known  as  the  "  Woman's  Crusade,"  will  never 
be  fully  comprehended.  The  results  in  the  way  of  clos- 
ing rum-shops  were  astonishiug.  More  were  closed  in 
three  months,  in  Ohio  alone,  than  have  been  closed  in  the 
whole  country,  by  prohibitory  law,  since  the  inaugura- 
tion of  that  law,  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  And  what 
is  most  important,  under  the  "  Crusade,"  the  dealers,  in 


•    THE   CURE  FOR  A  BALKY  MULE.  235 

great  part,  stopped  willingly,  and  then  heartily  co-oper- 
ated with  the  women  in  their  good  work.  One  such 
abandonment  of  the  business  is  worth  more  to  the  cause 
of  temperance  than  a  hundred  closures  by  the  con- 
stable. 


TEEATMENT   OF  THE  INSANE. 


THE  insane,  all  over  Europe  and  America,  were  treated 
with  dreadful  cruelties.  They  were  confined  in  stone 
cells,  chained  by  both  ankles  to  the  floor,  the  left  wrist 
often  chained  too,  only  the  right  arm  left  at  liberty  to 
feed  themselves ;  and  they  were  left  often  for  weeks  at  a 
time  in  their  filth,  their  meagre  food  being  pushed  in 
through  a  hole  in  the  door.  They  received  no  other 
attention,  unless  they  made  a  noise,  in  which  case  a  long 
stick  was  thrust  through  the  hole  in  the  door,  and  the 
poor  creatures  were  beaten  over  the  head.  Such  was 
the  treatment  of  the  insane  up  to  eighty-four  years  ago. 

Let  me  conduct  you  into  the  directors'  room,  in  an 
Insane  Asylum  in  Paris,  eighty-four  years  ago  the  first 
day  of  last  January. 

Eight  pompous  Frenchmen  occupy  large  arm-chairs. 
One  of  them,  a  gross,  red-faced,  bald  man,  occupies  the 
largest  chair,  and  sits  a  little  apart.  He  is  evidently 
their  chairman.  This  is  the  Board  of  Directors  of  an  im- 
mense Insane  Asylum.  They  are  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
the  newly-appointed  medical  director  —  the  famous  Dr. 
Pinel. 

Now  he  enters,  a  large  man  with  a  striking  face  —  it 
is  at  once  remarkably  strong  and  singularly  tender.  The 

236 


TREATMENT  OF  THE  INSANE.  237 

directors  rise  to  receive  him,  and  the  chairman  intro- 
duces such  of  them  as  had  not  before  met  the  distin- 
guished gentleman.  There  seems  nothing  remarkable 
in  this  meeting,  but  it  is  fraught  with  great  and  benefi- 
cent consequences.  Dr.  Pinel  takes  the  proffered  seat 
at  the  right  hand  of  the  chairman,  and  a  general  conver- 
sation ensues. 

Soon  the  chairman  ventures  to  express  surprise  that 
Dr.  Pinel  should  have  accepted  the  appointment. 

"  Surely,"  says  the  chairman,  "  you  could  not  have 
accepted  the  place  for  the  honor  or  the  money,  and  we 
have  been  wondering  what  could  have  influenced  you." 

Dr.  Pinel,  in  a  voice  of  marvellous  sweetness,  replies,  — 

"  Gentlemen,  so  far  from  refusing  the  appointment,  I 
sought  it.  My  purpose  is  one  which,  I  fear,  may  not 
interest  you,  and  which  you  may  not  even  fully  compre- 
hend. The  treatment  of  the  insane  is  everywhere  bar- 
barous and  brutal,  a  shame  and  disgrace  to  our  civiliza- 
tion. I  propose  to  introduce  another  and  a  better  system. 
I  propose  to  introduce  a  system  composed  of  reason, 
patience,  gentleness,  and  love." 

"  But,"  exclaims  the  coarse,  insensible  chairman,  "  do 
you  think  you  can  cure  that  barber  with  love  ?  Listen  : 
that  is  his  voice  you  hear  now.  Do  you  think  you  can 
manage  him  with  love  ?  " 

"  Gentlemen,"  responds  Dr.  Pinel,  "  we  might  as  well 
begin  now,  and  if  you  will  wait  for  me  an  hour,  I  will 
try  my  new  system  on  him." 

"  I  have  no  objection,  Monsieur  le  Docteur ;  but  don't 
go  into  his  cell,  for; when  I  told  him  this  morning  that 
you  had  been  appointed  superintendent,  he  exclaimed, 
1  Let  me  get  at  him,  and  I  will  cut  his  throat.7  So  keep 
on  the  outside,  and  out  of  his  reach." 


238  TREATMENT  OF  THE  INSANE. 

Dr.  Pinel  tells  the  story :  — 

"  I  walked  quietly  down  the  corridor,  and  looking 
through  the  little  hole  in  his  cell  door,  I  said,  — 

"  '  Good  morning,  my  brother/ 

"  Clutching  at  my  face  with  his  free  hand,  he  yelled  at 
me, — 

" '  I'll  brother  you  I  Let  me  get  hold  of  you.  Ill 
brother  you.' 

"  I  continued  in  the  kindest  manner  and  voice  to 
repeat,  — 

"  '  My  brother,  I  love  you,  and  have  come  to  serve 
you.  I  will  do  everything  in  my  power  to  make  you 
comfortable  and  happy.  My  dear  brother,  God  knows  I 
would  die  for  you  if  need  be.' 

"  He  continued  for  some  minutes  to  spit  at  me  and 
curse  me,  when  all  at  once  his  hands  dropped  by  his 
sides,  he  became  pale,  and  turned  his  face  away  as  if 
ashamed. 

"  I  then  said,  — 

" '  My  brother,  I  unlock  the  door  and  come  in  to  you.' 

"  The  poor  fellow  exclaimed,  half  ashamed  and  half 
frightened,  — 

"  '  0,  doctor,  don't  come  in,  for  God's  sake,  don't  come 
in  !  don't !  don't !  0,  I  shall  kill  you !  I  know  I  shall ! ' 

" l  My  brother,  you  would  sooner  kill  yourself  than 
hurt  a  hair  of  my  head.  I  am  coming  in.' 

"  I  then  unlocked  the  door,  and  stepped  into  the  cell. 
I  stood  immediately  in  front  of  the  insane  man.  A 
sudden  impulse  seized  me,  and  opening  my  arms,  the 
poor  fellow  opened  his,  and  enfolding  each  other,  we 
wept  on  each  other's  neck. 

"  I  then  said,  l  My  brother,  I  now  unlock  your  limbs.' 

"  He  cried  out,  '  0,  don't.     I  shall  certainly  hurt  you.' 


TREATMENT  OF  THE  INSANE.  239 

"  '  No/  was  my  reply ;  '  you  would  not;  you  could  not 
harm  me.' 

"  I  unlocked  his  ankles  and  his  wrist,  and  then  putting 
my  arm  about  him,  I  led  him  down  the  corridor  to  the 
wash-room,  where  with  my  own  hands  I  bathed  him. 
Then  taking  him  to  the  great  wardrobe,  I  dressed  him 
in  good  clothes,  and  conducted  him  to  the  room  where 
the  directors  were  still  waiting.  When  I  opened  the 
door,  and  the  chairman  got  sight  of  my  companion's  face, 
he  sprang  up,  and  cried  out,  — 

"  <  My  God,  let  me  get  out ! ' 

"  I  backed  up  against  the  door,  so  that  he  could  not 
escape,  and  said,  — 

•"  '  Don't  be  alarmed  j  my  brother  here  is  clothed,  and 
in  his  right  mind.' 

"  When  we  were  quietly  seated,  the  chairman,  who 
was  disposed  to  justify  his  suspicions,  said,  with  consid- 
erable passion,  — 

"  '  This  man  told  me  this  very  morning,  that  he  would 
cut  your  throat,  if  he  could  get  at  you.' 

".'  Ah  ! '  said  I,  l  and  that  reminds  me  that  I  have  not 
been  shaved  this  morning,  and  my  brother  must  shave 
me.' 

"  He  quickly  knelt  at  my  side,  and  clinging  about  my 
knee,  exclaimed,  — 

"  '  My  brother,  don't  tempt  me  now.  I  see  it  all.  I 
shall  come  to  it,  but  not  now.' 

"  *  0,'  I  said,  '  we  must  show  these  gentlemen.  It  is 
very  important.  Yes,  my  brother,  now !  Bring  the 
soap  and  razor.' 

"  With  a  pale  face  and  trembling  hand  he  shaved  me 
very  nicely  ;  and  from  that  hour  we  began  the  new  sys- 
tem, with  the  full  co-operation  of  the  board.'' 


240  TREATMENT  OF  THE  INSANE. 

From  that  day  the  new  gospel  for  the  insane  began  to 
be  preached  all"  over  the  civilized  world.  One  of  the 
German  states  has  abandoned  its  large,  gloomy  stone 
buildings,  with  its  cells  and  bars,  and  their  hundreds  of 
insane  are  kept  in  little  villages,  and  there,  living  out  in 
the  sunshine  and  fresh  air,  and  surrounded  by  birds, 
flowers,  the  love  of  women,  and  the  prattle  of  children, 
they  recover  with  a  rapidity  which  astonishes  medical 
men.  Within  a  few  years,  in  this  country,  the  bolts  and 
bars  must  give  way  for  a  better  system. 

Nine  people  in  ten,  when  they  hear  of  a  wrong-doer, 
no  matter  who  or  what  he  is,  double  up  their  fists,  and 
cry  out,  — 

••  Why  don't  you  hit  him  ?     Hit  him  !     Smash  him  !  " 

With  the  great  majority  of  people,  this  is  the  first 
impulse,  and  I  suppose  it  is  still  the  habit  with  many 
parents,  when  their  children  do  wrong,  to  beat  their 
heads. 

And  if  their  neighbors,  whom  they  do  not  love  as 
well  as  their  children,  do  wrong,  their  first  impulse  is  to 
hit  them  hard.  They  cry  out,  — 

"  Arrest  them  !  fine  them  !  imprison  them  !  " 

We  have  come,  fiot  so  very  far  back,  from  peoples  and 
tribes  that  lived  in  the  base  of  their  brains,  and  we  have 
not  yet  risen  quite  out  of  their  low  level  of  passion  and 
brute  force. 


MAJOR  BARRON. 

CHAPTER  FIRST. 
HIS    ENGAGEMENT. 

MAJOR  BARRON,  formerly  of  Lynchburg,  Virginia, 
removed  to  the  city  of  C.,  Ohio,  while  still  a  young 
man.  When  the  war  broke  out,  he  was  about  twenty-five 

years  of  age ;  went  out  in  the Ohio  regiment  as  a 

captain,  and  returned  home,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  with 
the  rank  of  major.  He  did  not  lose  a  leg,  but  he  ac- 
quired a  passion  for  strong  drink,  and  when  he  returned 
home,  Nelly  Stearns,  to  whom  he  had  been  engaged  for 
six  years,  was  solemnly  warned  by  many  friends. 

At  the  dinner  given  in  honor  of  their  return,  the  major 
was  called  out  for  a  speech,  and  disgraced  himself.  At 
the  close  of  the  dinner,  he  so  far  forgot  himself  as  to  go 
directly  to  Nelly's  beautiful  home,  end  walk  into  the 
drawing-room,  drunk. 

When  the  major  was  helped  away,  poor  "Nelly  fled  to 
her  chamber,  overwhelmed  with  mortification  and  grief. 
Opening  the  drawer  in  which  she  had  packed  away  the 
hundreds  of  letters  received  from  him  during  his  absence 
in  the  army,  she  took  up  the  bundles,  one  after  another, 
fondly  kissed  them,  and  exclaimed,  — 

"  Is  it  possible  ?  God  have  mercy  on  me  !  I  could 
16  241 


242  MAJOR  BARRON. 

not  have  believed  it,  but  it  is  true.  I  saw  him.  He  is 
lost !  He  is  lost !  0,  what  shall  I  do  ?  What  shall  I  do  ? 
Father  and  mother  will  never  consent  —  never !  never  ! 
And  if  they  did,  how  could  I  ?  If  he  would  come,  before 
our  marriage,  intoxicated,  into  my  very  home,  what 
would  he  not  do  after  our  marriage?  The  dream  is 
over.  I  must  give  him  up.  Yes,  I  must  give  him  up. 
When  they  told  me  about  it,  I  did  not  believe  them ; 
but  now  I  have  seen  it  myself." 

Three  hours  later,  Major  Barren  sent  a  note  to  Nelly 
Stearns.  It  was  written  with  a  trembling  hand,  and 
was  full  of  remorse.  He  was  so  nearly  insensible  when 
calling  at  her  home,  that  he  began  his  note  with  say- 
ing,— 

"  If  I  called  upon  you  this  afternoon  in  an  unfit  con- 
dition, I  beg  you  will  excuse  me.  It  shall  never  happen 
again.  I  am  distressed  with  the  thought  that  I  have 
wounded  your  feelings,"  <fcc.,  &c. 

Nelly  read  the  note,  and  sat  a  long  time  holding  it  in 
her  hand,  and  gazing  out  of  the  window.  Then  she 
went  to  the  drawer,  and  took  out  the  last  letter  he  had 
written,  before  leaving  the  South.  She  read  it  over  and 
over,  stopping  to  wipe  away  her  tears  at  the  end  of  each 
expression  of  passionate  love.  She  recalled  the  scene 
of  the  afternoon,  and  again  read  the  note  of  apology. 
Was  it  all  a  dream?  and  should  she  awaken  to  find  that 
her  lover  was  the  same  pure,  chivalrous  being  that  she 
had  followed  to  the  front,  when  he  first  went  out  to  fight 
the  enemies  of  his  country?  But  a  glance  at  the  scrawl 
she  had  just  received  recalled  her  to  the  wretched 
truth. 

The  relation  between  Nelly  Stearns  and  her  parents, 
was  one  of  great  confidence  and  singular  tenderness. 
After  supper,  Nelly  sent  to  ask  her  father  and  mother  to 
come  to  her  chamber. 


MAJOR  BARRON.  243 

They  found  her  sitting  on  a  low  stool  in  the  corner, 
with  a  pale  face  and  reddened  eyes.  The  mother  went 
quickly  to  her  daughter,  and  knelt  by  her  side.  Nelly 
threw  her  arms  about  her  mother's  neck,  and  burst  into 
tumultuous  grief.  They  all  wept  together,  and  when 
the  paroxysm  had  passed,  they  sat  down  to  consider  what 
should  be  done.  The  day  for  the  marriage  had  not  been 
appointed ;  but  it  was  understood,  before  the  major  left 
the  South,  that  the  wedding  should  occur  immediately 
upon  his  return.  The  father  said,  — 

"  After  what  has  happened,  he  will  not  expect  the  mar- 
riage to  occur  very  soon.  It  never  shall  take  place  at 
all,  with  my  consent,  until  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  that 
this  dreadful  affair  was  a  pure  accident,  or  until  I  am 
convinced,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  he  has  reformed." 

The  mother  hoped  it  would  all  be  explained  when  they 
saw  Clarence,  and  she  proposed  that  they  send  over  a 
note  requesting  him  to  come  to  them.  Nelly  was  sitting 
on  the  little  stool  in  the  corner,  her  pale  face  buried  in 
her  hands,  saying  nothing,  but  occasionally  responding 
to  what  her  parents  said,  by  a  low  moan.  When  Mrs. 
Stearns  proposed  to  send  the  note,  asking  Clarence  to 
come  over  and  see  them,  Nelly  moaned  out,  — 

"  0,  I  can't  see  him  ;  it  is  impossible.  But,  of  course, 
you  ought  to  see  him,  father." 

So  Mr.  Stearns  wrote  the  note,  and  late  in  the  even- 
ing, Major  Barren  came,  and  was  shown  into  the  draw- 
ing-room, where  he  found  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stearns  waiting 
to  see  him.  They  both  rose  and  received  him  in  a  man- 
ner becoming  the  situation.  He  took  a  seat  on  the  other 
side  of  the  room,  and  Mrs;  Stearns  began  at  once  :  — 

"  Clarence,  we  are  overwhelmed.  We  tried  to  think 
there  was  some  mistake,  some  misunderstanding  ;  but  no  ; 
you  have  disgraced  yourself,  disgraced  us,  and  broken 
all  our  hearts.  How  could  you  have  done  so  ?  " 


244  MAJOR  BARRON. 

The  good  woman  had  said  all  she  could,  and  broke 
down.  Mr.  Stearns  said,  — 

"  Major,  your  condition  to-day,  as  described  by  my 
wife,  was  certainly  most  unexpected  and  mortifying. 
We  had  been  informed,  by  a  person  in  your  regiment, 
that  you  were  using  intoxicating  drinks  ;  but  we  scarcely 
believed  it,  or  supposed  it  was  in  some  way  incident  to 
the  exposures  and  trials  of  a  military  campaign.  We 
were  not  prepared  for  the  exhibition  in  this  room  to- 
day." 

Major  Barron  replied,  — 

"  My  friends,  I  shall  not  defend  myself.  I  came  over 
because  you  requested  it,  and  I  will  hear  everything  you 
choose  to  say.  It  was  a  disgrace  —  an  outrage.  Indeed, 
Thave  no  language  with  which  to  characterize  it,  and  I 
trust  you  will  feel  at  liberty  to  speak  your  minds.  I 
know  I  deserve  the  worst  that  can  be  said.  Indeed,  I 
but  utter  my  real  convictions  when  I  say  that  I  deserve 
to  be  shot,  or,  a  hundred  fold  worse,  to  be  cast  off  by  you 
and  your  daughter." 

The  mother,  who  had  partially  recovered  from  her  emo- 
tion, interrupted  the  major  with, — 

"  How  could  you  do  it,  Clarence  ?  I  never  would  have 
believed  it  possible  !  " 

"  Indeed,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Stearns,  "  it  is  most  inexpli- 
cable. I  can't  comprehend  it." 

"  But,"  said  Major  Barron,  "  while,  as  I  have  said,  I 
shall  not  defend  myself,  I  may  say  that  if  you  could  have 
spent  a  month  in  the  service,  even  what  occurred  to-day 
would  not  astonish  you.  When  men  get  away  from 
women,  and  especially  when  in  the  army,  which,  in  an 
enemy's  country,  leads  a  reckless,  wild,  dare-devil  life, 
drink,  drink,  drink,  is  the  order  on  every  hand.  They 
count  the  dead  and  wounded,  and  then  they  think  they 
have  all  the  losses  of  the  war.  They  don't  count  the 


MAJOR  BARRON.  245 

thousands  who,  while  in  the  army,  learn  to  drink  that 
dreadful  poison  —  yes;  tens  of  thousands  of  them.  Al- 
most every  man  in  my  regiment  has  fallen.  God  alone 
knows  what  a  sacrifice  the  country  has  made  in  the  bad 
habits  which  men  have  learned  in  the  army.  During 
the  first  year  I  adhered  to  my  temperance  principles, 
and 'a  number  of  others  in  our  regiment  did.  But  when 
I  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major,  I  gave  a  dinner. 
At  that  dinner  I  drank  wine  for  the  first  time  in  my  life. 
I  had  no  idea,  then,  that  drinking  one  glass  would  lessen 
my  power  to  resist  the  next  one,  and  that  the  second 
glass  would  lessen  still  more  my  power  to  resist  the 
third.  I  was  taken  home  drunk.  Drunk?  Yes,  drunk! 
The  next  morning,  when  1  awoke,  I  was  ashamed  of  my- 
self, and  wanted  to  hide.  I  felt  that  I  must  crawl  away 
somewhere  out  of  human  sight ;  but  soon  my  fellow  offi- 
cers came  in,  and  were  so  hearty  and  brotherly,  tha'  my 
shame  quickly  passed  away.  Some  of  them  proposed, 
seeing  my  haggard  face,  that  I  should  take  something  to 
.set  me  right.  Fool  that  I  was  ;  I  drank  a  glass  of  whis- 
key, and  within  a  few  hours  was  dead  drunk  again. 

"  The  colonel,  who  was  my  true  friend,  and  has  6een 
through  everything,  came  to  me  when  I  was  sober  again, 
and  after  some  very  kind-hearted,  brotherly  talk,  advised 
me  not  to  drink  more  than  a  single  glass  at  a  time.  He 
said, — 

"  t  A  single  glass  hurts  no  one/ 

"  I  did  not  then  know  that  with  me  a  single  glass 
meant  drinking  till  1  was  dead  drunk,  and  I  have  never 
since  been  able  to  realty  convince  myself  of  this,  although 
1  know  -that  1  never  take  one  glass  without  following  it 
up  by  others.  1  have  never  been  able  to  convince  my- 
self, when  the  opportunity  for  drinking  one  glass  is  pre- 
sented, that  I  can't  restrain  myself.  Now  you  call 
understand  the  whole,  miserable,  wretched  story. 


246  MAJOR  BARRON. 

11  The  colonel,  who  has  been  more  than  a  brother  to 
me.  has  protected  me  from  disgrace  and  expulsion.  But 
for  his  brotherly  forbearance  I  should  have  been  turned 
out  of  the  service  long  ago.  Of  course  I  have  not 
looked  forward  to  a  marriage  with  your  daughter  with- 
out the  solemn  purpose  to  abandon  intoxicating  drinks ; 
but  I  have  been  surrounded  by  companions  who  are  in 
the  habit  of  drinking  constantly,  and  so  I  have  been  post- 
poning the  final  relinquishment  of  this  bad  indulgence 
until  I  should  be  out  of  the  service." 

The  parents  and  the  major,  after  the  first  awkwardness 
and  emotion  were  overcome,  talked  freely,  and  until  a 
late  hour.  He  left  a  kind  message  for  Nelly,  and  when 
he  was  gone,  the  parents  went  directly  to  Nelly's  cham- 
ber, and  found  the  poor  child  paler  than  before,  but  with 
the  same  wretched  expression,  crouching  in  the  corner 
on  the  same  stool.  They  repeated  to  her  the  principal 
portion  of  the  conversation  with  Clarence,  and  the  mother 
helped  the  poor  child  to  her  bed. 


CHAPTER  SECOND. 
THE  ENGAGEMENT  IS  BROKEN. 

THE  family  heard  nothing  of  Major  Barron  for  a  num- 
ber of  days,  and  then  he  sent  a  sad  note  to  Nelly,  ask- 
ing an  interview,  and  suggesting  that  it  should  take  place 
in  the  presence  of  the  parents.     At  the  appointed  time 
they  met  in  the  Stearns's  drawing-room,  and  after  a  few- 
moments  of  embarrassment  fell  into  an  old-time   chat. 
Before  leaving,  the  major,  with  painful  emotion,  said, — 
"  I   asked  this  interview  that  I  might   speak  frankly 
with  you,  Nelly,  and  with  your  parents,  about  our  mar- 


MAJOR  BARRON.  247 

riage.  Under  the  circumstances,  it  seemed  to  me  only 
honorable  that  the  conversation  on  that  subject  should 
not  be  between  you,  Nelly,  and  myself  alone,  but  that 
your  parents  should  be  present. 

"  Let  me  say  that  I  should  not  be  willing  to  marry  you, 
if,  under  the  circumstances,  you  were  willing.  This 
dreadful  weakness,  which  I  never  knew  until  I  entered 
the  army,  makes  it  impossible  that  we  should  discuss 
the  marriage  as  a  near  event,  and,  for  the  relief  of  all 
concerned,  —  that  you  may  be  free  and  escape  the  embar- 
rassments which  must  exist,  under  a  mere  postpone- 
ment of  the  marriage  day,  I  have  resolved  to  ask  you, 
Nelly,  and  your  parents,  to  permit  me  to  release  you 
from  the  engagement ;  or,  if  you  choose  to  put  it  in  any 
other  form,  I  shall  not  object.  I  can't  ask  you  to  release 
me  :  that  would  hurt  me,  because  I  should  feel  it  might 
hurt  you.  But  if  you  will  permit  me  to  release  you,  and 
your  parents  will  consent ;  when  I  feel  that  I  am  worthy 
of  your  love,  and  you  feel,  if  you  ever  can,  that  I  am 
worthy  of  you,  I  shall  come  again.  I  can  never  love  any 
other  woman.'' 

At  this  point  poor  Nelly  burst  into  convulsive  weep- 
ing, walked  quickly  to  Major  Barren,  and  reached  out 
her  hands.  He  kissed  them  eagerly,  and  she  quickly 
passed  out  of  the  room.  The  major  remained  a  few  mo- 
ments longer,  and  the  parents  thanked  him  for  his  hon- 
orable conduct.  They  assured  him  that  their  daughter's 
choice  had  been  a  source  of  great  pleasure  and  pride 
to  them ;  and  nothing  but  the  recently  discovered  fault 
could  have  induced  them  to  think  of  a  postponement 
of  the  engagement.  They  thought,  as  he  did,  that, 
tinder  the  circumstances,  it  would  be  well  to  consider 
the  engagement  as  broken,  and  to  leave  both  parties 
free.  If,  in  the  providence  of  God,  he  and  Nelly  should 
come  together  again,  they  hoped  it  would  be  with  the 


248  MAJOR  BARRON. 

same  hearty  indorsement  and  complete  satisfaction  tliat 
had  marked  their  relations  during  the  past.  As  the 
major  was  about  leaving,  with  a  great  deal  of  feeling  he 
said,  — 

"  I  think  it  best  that  I  should  not  meet  your  daughter 
again  for  half  a  year.  1  shall  never  use  any  more  intox- 
icating drinks ;  but  I  think,  in  justice  to  her  and  you, 
that  at  least  six  months  should  pass  before  I  come  here 
again. 

"  If  you  please,"  added  the  major,  "  give  a  good  by  to 
Nelly,  and  say  to  her  that,  if  half  a  year  from  this  time  I 
find  her  disposed  to  receive  me  again,  I  shall  come.  In 
the  mean  time,  I  am  going  away  to  begin  life  anew  in 
an  eastern  city.  During  the  half  year  of  my  absence  I 
shall  strive  to  make  myself  more  worthy  of  Nelly  than  I 
have  ever  been." 

With  a  faltering  voice  he  said,  "  Good  by." 


MAJOK  BARROX  IX  BALTIMORE. 

Major  Barren  was  a  lawyer,  and  a  singularly  bril- 
liant advocate.  lie  possessed  that  sort  of  nervous  in- 
tensity which  is  as  dangerous  to  its  possessor  as  beauty 
to  a  woman.  It  is  as  difficult  for  a  successful  young 
man  of  that  nervous,  intense  temperament,  to  pass 
through  the  temptations  of  social  life,  without  accident, 
as  for  a  young  woman,  with  little  intelligence  and  moral 
purpose,  and  great  personal  attraction,  to  reach  her 
twentieth  birthday  without  accident. 

Major  Barren  would  gladly  have  concealed  from  his 
friends  at  C.  his  new  place  of  residence ;  but  in  these 
days  a  man  in  public  life  does  not  easily  hide  himself 
from  any  portion  of  the  people.  So  within  a  week  after 
the  major  announced  in  the  Baltimore  papers  that  he  had 


MAJOR  BARRON.  249 

opened  an  office  for  the  practice  of  law,  the  Stearnses 
knew  all  about  it,  and  learned  that  he  had  gone  to  the 
"  hotel  to  board.  Mr.  Stearns  remarked  at  the  break- 
fast table,  the  next  morning  after  he  had  heard  the  news, 
that  he  was  very  sorry  Clarence  had  gone  to  a  hotel,  and 
more  especially  to  a  Baltimore  hotel,  where  the  habits 
were  likely  to  be  of  a  dangerous  sort.  The  ladies  entered 
into  this  apprehension,  and  thought  that  if  the  Conways, 
cousins  of  Mr.  Stearns,  who  resided  in  Baltimore,  would 
get  acquainted  with  Clarence,  and  invite  him  to  make 
their  house  his  home,  it  might  protect  him.  Mr.  Stearns 
at  once  wrote  a  letter,  and  Colonel  Coriway,  who  was 
himself  a  lawyer,  called  upon  Major  Barren  and  gave  the 
invitation.  The  major  knew  the  relation  between  the 
Conways  and  the  Stearnses,  and  at  once  divined  the 
jsource  of  the  movement.  After  some  days  he  called, 
and  found  them  in  an  aristocratic  neighborhood,  in  a 
beautiful  house,  and  that  the  family  consisted  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Conway  and  two  fine  daughters.  Mary  and  Kate, 
who  were  in  the  secret,  urged  the  major  to  come  and  be 
their  brother.  The  result  was,  that  although  he  per- 
fectly comprehended  the  motive,  and  although  it  was -a 
confession  of  weakness,  he  consented ;  and  within  a 
month  after  his  arrival  in  Baltimore,  he  was  at  home 
with  the  Conways,  and  was  like  a  brother  to  the  girls. 
The  Stearnses  were  delighted ! 


MARY  CONWAY'S  BIRTHDAY. 

Not  a  word  passed  between  Major  Barron  and  the 
Conway  family  in  regard  to  his  relations  with  Nelly 
Stearns,  nor  in  regard  to  the  unfortunate  weakness  which 
had  so  changed  his  plans.  But  every  day  a  letter  was 
written  by  one  of  the  girls  to  Nelly,  in  which  the  conver- 


250  MAJOR  BARRON. 

sation,  and  the  games,  and  everything  in  which  they 
thought  Nelly  might  be  interested,  were  given. 

Colonel  Con  way,  like  most  gentlemen  in  Baltimore,  had 
wines  at  dinner,  and  his  sideboard  was  always  abun- 
dantly supplied.  The  young  ladies  were  in  the  habit  of 
drinking  more  or  less  with  their  dinners,  and,  without  a 
thought  of  danger  to  their  companion,  frequently  asked 
him  to  join  them  in  a  glass  of  wine ;  but  he  uniformly 
declined.  One  day  at  dinner,  Mary,  the  older  daughter, 
and  a  remarkably  intelligent  and  fascinating  girl,  begged 
the  major  to  take  a  glass  of  wine  with  her  —  it  was  her 
birthday.  The  major  politely  declined,  but  she  urged 
him. 

"You  have  never  drank  a  glass  of  wine  with  me. 
Come,  this  is  my  birthday,  and  you  know  that  won't 
come  again  in  a  year.  Just  take  one  glass.'/ 

The  glass  was  passed,  the  major  sipped,  but  before 
dinner  was  over,  he  had  drank  that  and  two  other 
glasses ;  and  when  he  passed  his  glass  again,  Mary,  with 
a  blush,  said,  — 

"  Major,  I  don't  think  you  ought  to  drink  any  more. 
You  know  I  only  asked  you  to  drink  one  glass." 

The  major  replied,  — 

"  0,  you  think,  then,  that  I  have  drank  as  much  as  is 
good  for  me  ?  " 

"  0,  no  ;  not  that ,"  said  Mary.  "  I  will  give  you  one 
glass  more,  but  no  more  —  remember." 

They  sat  up  waiting  Clarence's  return  till  midnight. 


THEY  FOUND  HIM  AT  LAST. 

At  the  urgent  solicitation  of  his  wife  and  daughter, 
Colonel  Conway  went  down  town  to  find  the  major.  He 
did  not  find  him  that  night ;  but  the  next  morning,  he 


MAJOR  BARRON.  251 

found  him  at  a  small  hotel  in  a  low  street.  He  had  al- 
ready begun  to  seek  relief  from  the  headache  and 
despair  by  a  glass  or  two  of  whiskey.  When  the  de- 
bauch was  ended,  the  major  did  not  return  to  the  Con- 
ways,  but  went  back  to  the  hotel,  and  sent  for  his  trunk. 
Mary  Conway,  who  felt  that  she  was  responsible  for  the 
calamity,  drove  down  in  the  family  carriage,  walked  into 
the  major's  office,  and  begged  him  to  return  to  the  house. 
The  major  very  politely  but  firmly  declined.  Miss  Con- 
way  urged  so  hard  that,  at  last,  he  was  compelled,  in  self- 
defence,  to  say, — 

"  I  am  afraid  to  sit  at  your  table.  I  could  not  ask  you 
to  abandon  wines.  Your  father  has  been  accustomed  to 
them  all  his  life ;  but  I  cannot  drink  a  glass  without  the 
dreadful  consequences  which  came  from  the  one  I  drank 
with  you.  I  feel,  if  I  sit  with  you  at  your  table,  I  might 
again  indulge  the  insane  thought  that,  for  once,  I  could 
drink  t>ne  glass  without  drinking  a  second,  and  a  third, 
and  a  twentieth.  It  is  every  way  safer  for  me  to  remain 
here  at  this  hotel,  where  I  can  be  by  myself.  I  am  afraid 
that  I  am  a  lost  man.  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  it  is  a 
moral  impossibility  for  me  to  drink  one  glass,  and  not 
follow  it  by  many ;  and  I  begin  to  fear  that  it  will  be 
impossible  for  me  to  resist  the  multiplied  temptations  to 
drink  the  one  glass." 

At  last  Mary  said  there  was  somebody  at  the  house 
who  wished  to  see  him. 


THE  MEETING. 

"  Tell  me,  is  it  Miss  Stearns  ?  " 

"  Yes,  major ;  it  is  Miss  Stearns,  and  she  is  dying  to  see 
you." 

"  Does  she  know  of  my  recent  fall  ?  " 


252  MAJOR  BARRON. 

11  Not  one  word.  We  have  not  written  her  a  word,  and 
she  shall  know  nothing  of  it." 

"  I  will  go  with  you  immediately." 

They  drove  at  once  to  Colonel  Conway's,  where  the 
major  had  the  great  pleasure  to  meet  his  idol. 

Major  Barren  was  a  proud  man,  and  at  the  bar  pos- 
sessed remarkable  poise  and  power ;  but  he  had  a  warm 
heart,  and  loved  this  girl  as  he  had  never  loved  any  other 
creature.  When  the  family  had  retired  and  left  the  major 
with  Nelly,  he  dropped  on  his  knees  by  her,  and,  putting 
his  face  in  her  lap,  began  to  weep.  Nelly  was  over- 
whelmed. What  could  this  mean  ?  The  strongest, 
noblest  man  she  had  ever  known  wras  bowing  at  her 
feet,  and  weeping  like  a  child.  She  cried  out, — 

"  0,  Clarence,  what  does  it  mean?  0,  do  tell  me  what 
is  the  matter  !  " 

Suddenly,  still  remaining  on  his  knees,  he  raised  his 
head,  and  exclaimed, — 

"  Nelly,  I  have  fallen  again  !  T  am  lost !  You  must 
give  me  up !  All  your  prayers,  and  hopes,  and  tears, 
must  go  for  nothing !  I  haven't  moral  strength  enough 
to  live  in  this  world  !  " 

This  sudden  and  tender  appeal  gave  Nelly,  strength, 
and  she  begged  him  to  sit  by  her,  and  tell  her  all  about  it. 

He  told  her  the  whole  story,  accusing  himself  some- 
what too  severely,  and  refusing  to  tell  her  under  what 
circumstances  he  drank  the  first  glass.  He  simply  told 
her  that  a  friend  asked  him  to  join  in  a  glass,  and  all 
the  dreadful  debauch  had  come  in  consequence  of  it. 

"  Nelly,"  he  exclaimed,  "  you  must  not  trust  me  !  I 
can't  trust  myself.  I  believed  I  could.  I  believed  I  was 
strong  enough  when  separated  from  my  army  companions, 
but  I  have  now  lost  all  confidence.  I  can't  be  shut  up  in 
prison,  and  I  must  meet  the  temptation  everywhere  ;  and 
I  am  so  constituted  that  I  cannot  resist  it. 


MAJOR  BARRON.  253 

"But,"  lie  continued,  "I  am  not  the  first  miserable 
wretch  who  has  fallen  in  this  way.  My  grandfather  died 
of  delirium  tremens,  and  I  have  no  doubt  my  father  would 
have  died  of  the  same  horrid  malady,  had  he  not  been 
lost  at  sea.  Here  I  am,  following  in  their  footsteps,,  and 
I  tell  you,  before  God,  that  if  you  were  to  offer  to  marry 
me  to-day,  or  twelve  months  from  now,  and  if,  during  the 
whole  twelve  months,  I  had  entirely  abstained,  I  should 
not  then  have  any  confidence  in  myself 

"  I  came  here  to  Baltimore,  directly  from  you,  full  of 
courage  and  bright  hopes.  I  have  been  here  but  a  few 
weeks,  and,  without  any  great  temptation,  have  fallen. 
It  is  all  over." 

They  sat  till  near  daylight,  talking,  weeping,  and  al- 
most despairing. 

At  breakfast  the  next  morning,  the  Conways,  in  Nelly's 
presence,  urged  the  major  to  come  again  and  live  with 
them.  When  Nelly  informed  her  lover  that  she  intended 
to  remain  some  time,  he  consented.  And  again  the  major 
was  a  part  of  the  happy  family. 

The  major  resumed  his  business,  and  spent  his  even- 
ings with  Nelly. 

A  FAMOUS  TRIAL. 

The  trial  of  a  famous  murder  case  then  came  on,  and 
Major  Barron  was  engaged  as  junior  counsel.  He  made 
a  great  hit  in  the  opening  speech,  and  for  two  weeks  was 
occupied  day  and  night,  with  very  little  sleep  or  rest. 
The  prisoner  was  acquitted,  and  several  dinner  parties 
were  given  by  his  friends.  Major  Barron  was  believed 
to  have  turned  the  tide  —  in  fact,  to  have  extricated  the 
accused  from  a  web  of  circumstances  that  seemed  at  one 
time  impossible  of  solution.  He  was  a  conspicuous  figure 
in  the  social  entertainments. 


254  MAJOR  BARRON. 

I  need  hardly  say  to  those  who  have  had  any  acquaint- 
ance "with  high  life  in  Baltimore,  that  wines  occupied  the 
principal  place  in  the  refreshments  on  these  occasions. 
Major  Barron  was  in  that  strained,  nervous  condition, 
which  makes  the  will  so  weak  in  resisting  temptation  to 
indulgence  of  appetite,  and  he  actually  wavered  again 
and  again,  when  ladies,  not  knowing  his  peculiar  weak- 
ness, urged  him  to  join  them  in  a  glass.  But  Nelly  was 
with  him  at  most  of  the  receptions,  and  he  contrived  to 
make  his  way  through  them  all  without  falling. 

Poor  Nelly  could  not  comprehend  her  lover's  weakness, 
and  had  no  thought  that  but  for  her  presence  he  would 
have  succumbed.  She  felt,  now  that  Clarence  fully 
comprehended  the  danger  of  the  first  glass,  he  was  safe, 
and  the  future  bright.  So,  after  remaining  some  weeks 
with  the  Con  ways,  she  returned  to  her  home,  carrying  to 
her  parents  the  bright  hopes  which  filled  her  own  soul. 

It  was  their  custom  to  write  to  each  other  daily,  and 
Major  Barron  was  entirely  frank  in  telling  Nelly  from 
time  to  time  of  the  temptations  which  beset  him. 


DESPAIR  AND   COURAGE. 

At  length  came  a  morning  in  which  the  looked-for 
letter  did  not  arrive  at  C.,  and  the  next  morning,  and 
the  next.  Mr.  Stearns  telegraphed  Colonel  Conway.  to 
ask  if  Major  Barron  was  sick.  The  reply  was,  — 

"  He  is  not  sick ;  letter  coming." 

The  Stearnses  were  overwhelmed,  and  from  being  con- 
fident and  happy,  became  correspondingly  wretched  and 
hopeless. 

Colonel  Conway's  letter  arrived  two  days  after,  with 
the  information  that  Major  Barron  had  suddenly  disap- 
peared, and  they  had  not  heard  from  him  for  nearly  a 


MAJOR  BARRON.  255 

week ;  that  inquiries  had  been  made  at  his  office,  at  the 
hotels,  and  at  other  places  throughout  the  city.  He  had 
been  heard  from  once,  as  in  a  very  "  unhappy  condition," 
then  all  trace  of  him  was  lost. 

The  poor  mother  could  not  restrain  her  tears.  Nelly's 
face  was  pale,  but  she  did  not  weep.  She  went  to  her 
room,  and  returned  in  a  little  time  in  a  travelling  dress, 
and,  with  a  calm,  quiet  manner  and  voice,  said, — 

u  I  am  going  to  Baltimore,  and  I  shall  remain  there  as 
long  as  I  can  help  him." 

The  parents  said  nothing  of  improprieties ;  nothing  of 
the  danger  of  travelling  alone ;  nothing  of  their  premo- 
nitions ;  for  they  saw  in  Nelly's  face  something  which 
forbade  all  interference. 


CHAPTER  THIRD. 
THE  NOBLEST  HEROISM. 

THE  next  train  took  Nelly  Stearns  to  Baltimore.     Mrs. 
Conway  and  daughters  were  full  of  sympathy,  but 
Nelly  was  very  calm.    She  simply  said,  upon  learning  that 
they  had  heard  nothing  from  Clarence, — 

"  I  shall  find  him,  and,  if  you  please,  I  will  go  alone." 
It  was  early  in  the  morning  when  she  reached  Balti- 
more, and  before  noon  she  had  inquired  at  all  the  hotels 
and  many  other  places  /or  a  "  tall,  handsome  gentleman, 
with  light  hair,  blue  eyes,  a  soft  voice,  and  pleasant 
manners," --but  she  could  hear  nothing  of  him.  Before 
night,  she  had  visited  all  the  places  where  policemen, 
who  kindly  proffered  their  assistance,  thought  the  gen- 
tleman might  be  found.  Just  after  dark,  she  met  an 
officer  who  thought  he  had  seen  such  a  person  in  - 


256  MAJOR  BARRON. 

Street  —  the  most  abandoned  neighborhood  in  the  whole 
city.  Nelly  turned  into  this  street,  where  she  saw,  in 
the  open  doors,  women,  whose  dreadful  occupation  she 
quickly  divined,  dallying  with  low,  drunken  men.  She 
would  have  been  overwhelmed,  only  that  her  heart  was 
filled  with  another  thought.  She  passed  quickly  through 
the  street,  but  seeing  nothing  of  the  object  of  her  search, 
asked  some  of  the  creatures  that  she  saw  in  the  door- 
ways whether  they  had  seen  such  a  person  as  she 
described. 

A  large,  coarse,  brutal  man,  half  intoxicated,  noticing 
the  girl,  staggered  out  of  the  door,  and  tried  to  put  his 
arm  about  her,  and  began  to  speak  to  her  in  a  wheedling 
tone ;  but  when  he  caught  sight  of  Nelly's  face,  he 
quickly  turned  back.  The  girls  were  touched  by  her 
anguish,  and  very  politely  answered  her  questions.  They 
had  seen  nothing  of  the  person  whom  she  described. 

Just  then  a  blear-eyed  creature  came  staggering 
along  :  one  of  the  girls  called  him,  — 

"  Jack,  pr'aps  you  know  something  about  this  yer 
gentleman/' 

After  a  few  irregular  movements,  Jack  came  to  a 
stand,  and  trying  to  think  for  a  while,  said  he  knew 
where  that  polite  gentleman  might  be  found,  but  wouldn't 
skow  the  girl  for  less  than  a  fiver.  When  this  was 
explained  to  Xelly,  she  took  out  her  purse,  gave  the  man 
five  dollars,  and  then  followed  him.  He  turned  down  a 
dirty,  narrow  lane,  utterly  vile  and  sickening  in  its 
sights  and  smells,  and  at  length  .began  to  climb  a  flight 
of  outside  stairs,  with  his  bare  feet,  and  Nelly  fol- 
lowed close  upon  him.  Reaching  a  loathsome  upper 
room,  sickening  with  stenches,  she  found  lying  on  the 
floor,  with  torn  clothes,  and  filthy,  bleeding  face,  her 
lover,  Majoi  Clarence  Barren  ! 


MAJOR  BARRON.  257 

She  did  not  scream,  she  did  not  weep,  but  said  calmly 
to  the  men,  who  were  lounging  about,  — 

"  If  yon  will  help  me  get  this  gentleman  into  a  carriage, 
I  will  pay  you  well." 

She  resolved,  as  soon  as  they  were  in  the  carnage,  not 
to  return  directly  to  the  Conways',  but  to  take  Major 
Barren  to  a  hotel.  Fearing  she  might  not  be  received, 
with  such  a  man,  at  one  of  the  best  hotels,  she  inquired 
of  a  p'olicemen  for  some  small  hotel,  where  they  would 
receive  her,  with  an  intoxicated  man.  The  policeman 
thought  that  the  International  —  a  very  small  hotel  on 
B  Street  —  would  take  them.  Thither  she  was  driven, 
and  in  half  an  hour  Major  Barren,  still  insensible,  was 
lying  on  a  bed,  and  Nelly  was  kneeling  by  his  side,  and 
with  wash-bowl  and  towels  was  trying  to  remove  the 
filth  and  blood-stains  from  her  lover's  head  and  face. 

She  at  once  sent  a  messenger  to  Colonel  Conway's, 
with  a  note,  written  without  the  slightest  tremor,  asking 
for  a  quantity  of  the  major's  under- clothing ;  and  imme- 
diately sent  to  his  room  two  men,  she  had  picked  up  in 
the  house,  to  remove  the  major's  clothing,  bathe  him, 
and  dress  him  in  clean  clothes.  Soon  she  was  by  his 
side  again,  and  there  she  remained  watching  and 
waiting. 

FAITHFUL  CHARLEY. 

I  have  forgotten  to  mention  that  when  Major  Barron 
first  went  South,  Jie  took  with  him  a  beautiful  spaniel 
puppy,  which  turned  out -a  remarkably  handsome  and 
intelligent  dog.  He  was  a  great  pet  in  the  regiment. 
Everybody  knew  him,  and  talked  to  him,  and  he  thereby 
acquired  a  rare  intelligence.  His  devotion  to  Major 
Barron  was  the  subject  of  frequent  remark,  and  not  a 
few  of  his  fellow-officers  and  soldiers  had  shed  tears 
17 


258  MAJOR  BARRON. 

over  Charley's  devotion  to  his  master,  during  his  fits  of 
intoxication.  Major  Barren  had  brought  Charley  back 
with  him  to  C.,  and  took  him  to  Baltimore.  Indeed, 
they  were  inseparable  companions. 

When  Nelly  found  the  major  in  that  dreadful  place, 
lying  flat  on  the  floor,  with  his  face  exposed,  and  the  flies 
crawling  over  it,  Charley  was  lying  close  by,  his  face 
nearly  touching  the  major's.  It  was  almost  impossible 
to  induce  the  dog  to  permit  the  two  men  to  lift  the  major, 
and  carry  him  down  stairs  to  the  carriage.  He  would 
not  at  first  allow  even  Nelly  to  put  her  hands  upon  his 
master,  or  to  brush  the  flies  away ;  but  at  length  he  re- 
membered her,  and  became  satisfied  that  they  intended 
no  harm  to  his  master.  He  walked  close  at  their  heels, 
while  his  master  was  being  borne  to  the  carriage,  and 
springing  in,  lay  down  under  his  feet.  During  their 
stay  at  the  hotel,  the  dog  insisted  upon  lying  on  the  bed 
near  the  major,  and,  indeed,  never  left  him  for  a  moment. 
This  accounts  for  the  fact  that  the  major's  valuable 
watch  and  a  considerable  sum  of  money  were  found  on 
his  person,  no  one  caring  to  examine  his  pockets  while 
exposed  to  the  teeth  of  such  a  vigilant  and  determined 
watch-dog. 


THE  MAJOR  RETURNS  TO   CONSCIOUSNESS. 

When  the  major  returned  to  consciousness,  he  at  first 
seemed  hardly  to  realize  Nelly's  presence,  but  after  a 
time  started  suddenly,  gazed  at  her,  rubbed  his  red  eyes, 
tried  with  his  dried  mouth  and  tongue  to  speak  her 
name,  and  then  began  to  talk  incoherently.  As  soon  as 
he  exhibited  evidences  of  returning  consciousness,  Nelly 
sent  below  for  strong  coffee  and  some  delicate  nourish- 
ment. Several  times  during  the  morning  she  gave  him 


MAJOR  BARRON.  259 

a  cup  of  coffee,  and  such  nourishment  as  he  would  take. 
At  ten  o'clock  he  was  sufficiently  restored  to  compre- 
hend the  situation,  arrd  said  to  Nelly,  — 

"  This  is  all  useless.  You  are  wasting  yourself  upon 
the  most  miserable  wretch  on  God's  earth,  and  I  will  not 
consent  to  it.  I  will  not  consent  to  it !  If  you  will*  be 
kind  e*nough  to  step  out,  and  let  me  dress,  I  will  go  away. 
I  will  go  out  of  the  country.  I  will  not  consent  that 
you  shall  be  tortured  any  longer  with  such  a  despicable 
wretch.  There  is  no  use  in  all  your  prayers,  and  love, 
and  agony.  It  will  all  do  no  good.  You  can't  save  me  ! 
I  can't  save  myself  1  God  can't  save  me !  I  am  lost  I 
I  am  lost !  I  must  go  to  hell  1  Nelly,  let  me  go,  and  I 
promise  you,  solemnly,  that  you  shall  never  hear  from 
me  again.  Go  home  to  your  friends.  Forget  me.  You 
don't  know,  you  can't  realize,  how  utterly  unworthy  of 
one  word  from  you,  I  am !  " 

Nelly  made  no  answer.  She  did  not  weep,  nor  moan, 
but  with  the  sponge  she  had  in  her  hand  she  continued 
to  bathe  his  face,  and  by  and  by  asked  him  what  she 
might  order  for  his  dinner.  He  declared  he  wanted  no 
dinner.  He  wanted  nothing  to  eat ;  but  he  insisted  that 
he  would  no  longer  pollute  her  with  his  presence.  She 
ordered  some  dinner,  and  with  great  tenderness  fed  and 
nursed  him.  At  night  she  had  a  settee  brought  in,  and 
when  he  needed  no  special  attention,  lay  down  and  tried 
to  rest. 

The  next  morning  she  had  his  clothes  brought  in,  for 
she  had  had  them  taken  out  of  the  room,  and  concealed, 
that  he  might  not  be  able  to  rise  and  go  out  before  he 
had  fully  recovered.  After  breakfast  a  carriage  was 
called,  and  they  rode  for  some  hours.  At  night  they 
were  driven  to  Colonel  Conway's,  and  were  received 
without  any  expressions  of  wonder,  without  any  com- 
ments ;  and  the  major,  with  an  air  of  reserve  and  morti- 
fication, fell  gradually  back  into  his  usual  life. 


2CO  MAJOR  BARRON. 


CHAPTER  FOUR. 
THE    DAY    DAWNS.  . 

"VTELLY  STEARNS  remained  at  Colonel  Conway's  for 
1.1  a  month,  and  one  evening,  when  she  and  the  major, 
who  had  meantime  recovered  his  cheerfulness,  were 
sitting  alone,  she  said,  after  a  long  silence,  — 

"  Clarence,  I  think  we  had  better  be  married.  I  must 
make  a  home  for  you.  I  have  been  consulting  a  medical 
man,  who  seems  to  me  the  wisest  and  the  best  physician 
I  have  ever  met.  He  tells  me  there  is  no  doubt,  if  your 
health  could  be  made  good,  if  you  could  have  the  best 
food,  and  regular  sleep,  and  a  uniform,  pleasant,  social 
life,  with  the  very  best  hygienic  conditions,  you  would 
be  perfectly  safe.  -I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  tell  him, 
without  mentioning  any  names,  all  the  circumstances  of 
our  relations,  and  I  asked  him  if  he  thought  there  was 
any  danger  in  our  being  married.  He  assured  me  that 
it  would  be  entirely  right  for  us  to  marry.  I  have  taken 
the  liberty  to  arrange  an  interview,  for  both  of  us,  with 
him  to-morrow  evening.'7 

Clarence  sat  for  some  time  holding  Nelly's  hand,  and 
then  taking  her  in  his  arms,  and  pressing  her  to  his 
heart,  he  said, — 

"  No,  no ;  it  must  not  be  !  I  will  never  consent  that 
you  shall  make  such  a  sacrifice !  If,  for  five  years,  I 
could  remain  perfectly  sober,  I  should  then  be  willing; 
but,  with  this  recent  disaster — no;  it  must  not,  it  shall 
not  be  ! " 


MAJOR  BARRON.  261 


THE  WEDDING  AND  THE  HOME. 

They  went  together  to  call  upon  the  doctor,  and  after 
two  or  three  hours'  conversation,  returned  to  Colonel 
Conway's,  and  before  they  retired,  Nelly  fondly  kissed 
her  lover,  and  whispered,  "  Please  get  ready  ;  to-morrow 
we  will  go  home  and  be  married  at  once." 

The  parents  were  frightened  and  distressed,  but 
everything  gave  way  before  Nelly's  strong  purpose,  and 
a  quiet  wedding  took  place  in  the  drawing-room  at  Mr. 
Stearns's.  A  fortnight  after,  they  returned  to  Balti- 
more, and  were  very  soon  established  in  a  beautiful  cot- 
tage on Avenue. 

Nelly  was  at  once  the  most  gentle  and  deferential 
wife,  and  the  most  determined  mistress. 

If  the  theatre  or  opera  was  proposed,  Nelly  replied  in 
her  quiet  way,  — 

"  We  don't  visit  such  places.  We  retire  at  nine 
o'clock." 

When  friends  were  invited  to  spend  the  evening  with 
them,  the  invitation  always  mentioned  from  half  past 
seven  to  nine,  or  from  eight  to  nine.  This  was  a  great 
innovation  upon  the  social  habits  of  Baltimore,  and 
Nelly  was  assured  it  would  give  offence.  She  replied, 
without  vehemence,  but  in  a  manner  which  every  one 
understood  to  be  final, — 

"  Under  all  circumstances,  we  retire  at  nine  o'clock ; 
nothing  but  desperate  sickness  could  induce  me  to  alter 
the  rule." 

Her  parents  wrote  that  they  should  visit  her  within  a 
few  days,  and  would  arrive  by  the  nine  o'clock  morning 
train.  Clarence  proposed  that  they  should  defer  their 
breakfast  until  the  arrival  of  father  and  mother.  Nelly 
did  not  siiy,  I  shall  insist  that  we  breakfast  at  the  regular 


262  MAJOR  BARRON. 

hour,  eight  o'clock  ;  but  going  to  her  husband,  and  kiss- 
ing him  in  her  fond  way,  she  said,  — 

"No,   my   darling,   we   take   our  breakfast   at  eight 
o'clock." 


NELLY'S   SYSTEM. 

In  important  legal  business  the  major  was  very 
strongly  tempted  to  remain  down  town  during  the  even- 
ing ;  but  when  he  proposed  it  to  his  wife,  and  assured 
her  that  coming  home  at  six  o'clock  would  involve  a 
sacrifice,  she  simply  said,  — 

"  If  you  are  not  here  by  the  car  which  comes  up  at  six 
o'clock,  I  shall  drive  down  for  you  immediately,  and  bring 
you  home,  unless  you  thrust  me  out  of  your  office  by 
force.  I  will  sacrifice  everything  for  you  ;  I  will  die  for 
you  — you  know  it ;  but  while  I  live  I  shall  live  for  you. 
The  hour  for  your  return  in  the  evening  is  six  o'clock : 
the  hour  to  retire  is  nine  o'clock ;  the  hour  to  rise  is 
seven  ;  the  hour  for  breakfast  is  eight ;  and  the  hour  for 
our  luncheon  is  twelve :  the  hour  for  our  dinner  is  a 
quarter  past  six.  Our  food,  our  drinks,  our  baths,  our 
social  amusements,  our  whole  life,  you  know,  my  pre- 
cious husband,  each  and  every  feature,  has  long  been  a 
matter  of  careful  and  prayerful  study.  Every  one  of  the 
medical  men  assures  us  that  your  safety  depends  upon 
high  health,  and  calm,  quiet  nerves.  If,  when  I  inter- 
fere with  any  departure  from  this  hygienic  life,  I  stand 
in  the  way  of  your  plans,  you  may  strike  me  down,  but 
until  I  am  struck  down,  until  I  am  insensible,  there  I 
shall  remain,  and  wait,  and  plead,  and  insist.  I  have  the 
most  devoted  and  loving  husband  in  the  world,  and, 
God  helping  me,  I  will  preserve  him,  I  will  live  for  him, 
and,  if  need  be,  I  will  die  for  him." 


MAJOR  BARRON,  263 


BALTIMORE  RECEPTIONS. 

The  Barrens  were  frequently  invited  to  spend  an 
evening  out,  and  they  often  attended  social  gatherings 
and  quiet  parties,  but  invariably  returned  home  at  nine 
o'clock.  One  evening  they  were  invited  to  attend  a 
party  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  B.,  one  of  the  merchant 
princes  of  Baltimore ;  and  when  the  Barrons  sent  their 
acceptance  of  the  invitation,  the  B.'s,  knowing  that  they 
would  leave  at  half  past  eight  o'clock,  determined  upon 
having  their  refreshments  served  early,  that  these  most 
beautiful  and  brilliant  people  might  join  them. 

At  table,  Major  Barron  sat  at  Mrs.  B.'s  right  hand,  and 
Mrs.  Barron  at  Mr.  B.'s. 

Mrs.-B.  received  from  the  servant  two  glasses  of  wine, 
and  passed  one  to  the  major, — 

"  Major  Barron,  will  you  join  me  in  a  glass  of  wine  ?  " 

Immediately,  and  before  the  major  had  time  to  reply, 
Mrs.  Barron  rose,  and  with  that  peculiarly  pale  face,  but 
with  a  quiet,  steady,  gentle  voice,  said  to  Mrs.  B.,  — 

"  Madam,  I  am  very  sorry  to  interrupt  the  pleasure 
of  the  company,  but  there  are  reasons  why  we  must 
return  home  immediately." 

"  Yes,"  said  Major  Barron,  rising,  "  I  see  by  my  wife's 
face,  that  there  is  an  urgent  reason  why  we  must  return 
home." 

Everybody  was  surprised  and  mystified,  but  soon  the 
Barrons  left,  and  the  party  went  on. 

,  The  next  morning  Mrs.  B.,  fearing  that  some  sudden 
illness  might  have  been  .the  occasion  of  the  untimely 
departure,  drove  to  Mrs.  Barren's  to  inquire.  Finding 
them  well,  Mrs.  B.  took  the  liberty  to  ask  Mrs.  Barron 
if  the  occasion  of  their  leaving  so  suddenly  was  as  she 


2C4  MAJOR  BARRON. 

tliouglit  it.  Then  Mrs.  Barren  told  her  caller,  in  a  few 
words,  the  truth  in  the  case,  and  Mrs.  B.,  after  a  time, 
came  to  fuily  comprehend  the  situation.  She  said,  be- 
fore leaving, — 

"  Will  you  permit  me  to  invite  you  and  the  major 
to  our  house  next  week,  to  attend  a  little  party,  not 
unlike  the  one  last  evening,  at  which  there  shall  be  no 
wines  ?  " 

Mrs.  Barren  sprang  to  her  feet,  and  seizing  Mrs.  B. 
by  the  hand,  exclaimed,  — 

"  Thank  you  !  thank  you,  my  dear  friend  !  I  thank 
you  with  all  my  heart !  Without  consulting  my  hus- 
tand,  I  will  say  that  we  shall  be  most  happy  to  attend 
such  a  gathering.'7 

It  was  arranged.  The  party  was  especially  recherche. 
The  wines  did  not  appear,  and  there  were  wonder  and 
whispering,  here  and  there.  But  after  Major  Barron 
left,  the  facts  came  out.  Within  a  week  the  Barrens 
had  twenty  invitations  to  attend  parties,  with  a  little 
private  note  addressed  to  Mrs.  Barren,  in  which  she  was 
assured  that  the  bad  habit  (everybody  knew  it  was  bad) 
of  serving  wines  would  be  omitted  on  this  occasion,  and 
that  refreshments  would  be  served  at  eight  o'clock.  I 
need  hardly  say  to  those  who  have  considered  the  won- 
derful susceptibility  to  improvement  among  all  classes, 
when  the  suggestion  comes  from  the  right  quarter,  and 
in  the  right  spirit,  —  that  a  remarkable  revolution  in  the 
matter  of  wines,  at  social  entertainments,  was  soon  in- 
augurated in  Baltimore. 

It  is  in  the  power  of  any  little  quiet  woman,  with  the 
thought  and  the  courage,  to  contribute  more  to  the  hap- 
piness and  welfare  of  society,  in  correcting  its  abuses, 
than  is  generally  accomplished  by  a  thousand. 


MAJOR  BARRON.  2C5 


A  FUNEKAL. 

On  tlie  sixth  anniversary  of  Nelly  Barren's  wedding 
day,  there  was  a  sad  funeral  at  her  house.  A  dearly- 
loved  .  member  of  the  family  had  died.  A  beautiful, 
rose-wood  coffin  rested  on  the  table  in  Nelly's  sitting- 
room,  and  she  sat  by  its  side,  weeping.  Near  the  win- 
dow sat  Major  Barron,  with  little  Clarence  and  Nelly  on 
his  knees.  The  children  were  weeping  boisterously,  and 
the  major  looked  very  sad.  But  the  great  grief  was  in 
the  wife's  heart. 

Let  us  look  at  the  silver  plate. 

"  Charley  Barron — a  devoted  friend.  May  we  meet 
in  heaven." 

We  will  look  into  the  casket.  The  long  silken  ears, 
the  large,  beautiful  head,  the  rich  gold  and  yellow,  are 
all  as  perfect .  as  they  were  that  day  when  Nelly  found 
him  in  the  wretched  den,  watching  by  his  master's  face. 
OD!}T  the  eyes,  which  do  not  close,  show  that  the  faithful, 
loving  creature,  had  died  in  a  ripe  old  age. 

In  the  evening,  when  the  family  had  returned  from  the 
cemeter}r,  where  they  had  placed  Charley  in  the  family 
bury  ing-ground,  Nelly  sat  in  her  husband's  lap,  and 
putting  her  arms  about  his  neck,  wept  long  and  tenderly. 
The  husband  fully  comprehended  all  that  was  in  his 
wife's  heart,  and  while  he  passed  his  hand  over  her  beau- 
"tiful  head,  smoothing  the  brown  hair,  he  could  only 
repeat,  — 

"  My  precious  darling,  you  saved  me,  and  he  helped 
you  !  Yes,  you  saved  me !  You  saved  me  !  0,  what 
devoted  friends ! '; 


2G6  MAJOR  BARRON. 


THE  CONCLUSION. 

The  major  now  stands  at  the  head  of  his  profession,  in 
the  city  of  P.,  and  at  the  last  congressional  election  was 
solicited  to  run  for  Congress.  A  committee  of  gentle- 
men called  upon  him,  and  he  told  them  frankly,  that  he 
should  be  most  happy  to  occupy  a  seat  in  Congress.  It 
had  long  been  his  wish  to  spend  a  season  in  Washing- 
ton, but  he  hardly  knew  whether  his  wife  would  con- 
sent. He  would  consult  her,  and  if  she  had  no  objection, 
he  should  certainly  put  himself  in  the  hands  of  his 
friends. 

The  practice  of  his  profession  nad  become  somewhat 
monotonous,  and  he  thought  that  a  couple  of  winters  in 
Washington,  would  afford  a  pleasant  relief. 

At  the  tea  table  that  night,  he  told  Nelly,  and  hoped 
that  under  the  circumstances  she  would  not  oppose  his 
nomination,  for  he  should  be  very  sorry  to  deny  himself 
the  relief  and  the  honor. 

Nelly  was  silent,  but  was  unusually  gentle  and  tender 
toward  little  Nelly,  who  sat  on  one  hand,  and  little  Clar- 
ence, who  sat  on  the  other,  and  looked  a  little  paler  than 
usual.  The  husband  understood  her,  and  did  not  again 
allude  to  the  subject.  The  next  morning,  when  his 
friends  called,  he  said,  — 

"  Gentlemen,  my  wife  has  not  told  me  that  she  has  the 
least  objection  to  my  accepting  the  nomination,  but 
when  I  proposed  it,  she  did  not  seem  particularly  enthu- 
siastic ;  therefore  I  shall  decline  the  invitation.  I  thank 
you,  gentlemen,  but  I  would  rather  dig  in  the  streets 
than  do  anything  which  my  wife  does  not  heartily 
approve." 


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